Roman Safiullin vs Lorenzo Musetti Prediction & Betting Tips - Chengdu, China

Prediction published on 24/09/2023, 05:08  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 24/09/2023 at 21:30

Second seeded Lorenzo Musetti attempts to reach his first ATP Tour singles final of the year. To do so he has to defeat unseeded Roman Safiullin in the last four of the Chengdu Open. Musetti is 18th in the rankings and remains in that position in the live rankings. The Italian is having a welcome return to form after losing his last three matches before the start of this outdoor hard court tournament in China. Two of those losses had come against players ranked outside the top 150. Most of his success this year has come on clay and grass and this is his third ATP Tour semi-final of the year. This week has seen the 21-year-old begin his campaign with a three-set win over qualifier Philip Sekulic. The first two sets both went to tie-breaks but Musetti won the final one to love. He followed that up with a straight sets victory over unseeded Arthur Rinderknech, dropping only six games.

Roman Safiullin has climbed nine places to 46th in the live rankings. That's only three positions below the career high he achieved two months ago. He'll beat that by moving up to 41st if beating Musetti. Safiullin is also having a return to form after only winning one of his last five matches. The Russian made it to the last eight of Wimbledon this year but apart from winning a Challenger Tour event, he's had little success on hard courts until this week. He's won his three matches without losing a set and beat the fourth seeded Daniel Evans in round two. In his last match, he won the first set against Jordan Thompson on a tie-break and his opponent then retired. The only match between the pair saw Safiullin win in a Challenger Tour event played four years ago when his opponent was still a teenager. We go for Musetti to get the win, have a side bet on a tie-break being played.