Hugo Pfeiffer/Icon Sport
Roman Safiullin vs Jungcheng Shang : ATP Chengdu – Round of 16
Veteran Roman Safiullin will take on the home hope Jungcheng Shang in the round of 16 of the ATP Chengdu.
Roman Safiullin Profile
Roman Safiullin is 56th in the ATP rankings and his career high was No. 36. The Russian is 20-22 for the season and 13-10 on hard surface.
He is coming off a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Fabio Fognini in the opening round.
Safiullin’s best result this season was winning the Challenger in Cary and he also made it to the semifinals in Brisbane and Aix en Provence Challenger.
Last year Safiullin made it to the final in Chengdu where he lost to Alexander Zverev 6-7, 7-6, 6-3.
Jungcheng Shang Profile
Jungcheng Shang is 67th in the ATP rankings, one spot lower than his career high. The Chinese is 35-19 for the season and 20-8 on hard surface.
The 19-year-old is coming off a 6-4, 6-4 win over Kei Nishikori in the opening round of the tournament.
Shang made it to the semifinals in Hong Kong, Bordeaux and Atlanta this season.
This is his first appearance in Chengdu.
Head-to-Head Shang leads 1-0
- Shang vs Safiullin 0-6, 6-4, 7-5 (2022 Lexington Challenger, quarterfinal)
Prediction and Conclusion
The Chinese teenager Jungcheng Shang had an excellent performance in the opening round against the veteran Kei Nishikori. He proved that playing in front of the home crowd is something that brings the best out of him. Roman Safiullin was not so dominant in his first match this week, and Shang’s quickness will be a major problem for him. The Russian has a solid serve on this surface, but that will not be enough to move forward, so we go with Shang to win this match.
