It’s time to say goodbye to ‘Terre Battue’ and welcome the grass court! Several tennis stars are lining up for action at the Boss Open in Stuttgart to kick-start their campaigns in the grass-court swing. This 108-year-old grass court tournament serves as a good preparatory stage ahead of the mega event in London, which is scheduled to take place from 1 July to 14 July. Talking about the action-packed matchups in this tournament, well two of the finest of grass courts, Matteo Berrettini (Italy) and Roman Safiullin (Russia) are all set to take on each other in the R32. Who will win this intriguing faceoff?

Matteo Berrettini has won this tournament twice in his career so far, while Roman Safiullin has failed to reach the main draw in his previous two appearances. Safiullin started the season pretty well by reaching the SF of the Brisbane International but after that, he has looked pretty much ordinary in the ATP Tour. On the other hand, Berrettini’s biggest opponents over the past two years have been his injuries and lack of consistency. It’ll be interesting to see if he can come up with his best version yet again on one of his favorite surfaces.

Matteo Berrettini vs Roman Safiullin: Preview

The 28-year-old Italian reached the finals of Challenger Phoenix, US earlier this year and after that, he won the title at Grand Prix Hassan II. But Matteo Berrettini has played only one match after his title triumph in Marrakech. He faced Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in his previous match at the R64 of the Monte Carlo Masters. In that match, Kecmanovic defeated Berrettini comfortably by a 6-3,6-1 margin. The Italian tennis star could only manage to hit one ace in the entire match and committed one double fault.

He won 48% of his first serve and just 38% of his second serve against the Serbian. However, Berrettini converted one of his three breakpoints in that match. Looking at his overall numbers this season, Matteo Berrettini has hit just 36 aces and committed 10 double faults. He has won 86% of his service games and 26% of his return games so far this year.

Talking about his opponent in Stuttgart, Roman Safiullin also reached SF in a challengers event in France last month. However, the 26-year-old Russian tennis star faced an early exit from the French Open this year at the hands of Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic. Lajovic defeated Safiullin in a five-set thriller in the first round of the tournament. Roman Safiullin hit three aces and committed four double faults in that match. He won 62% of his first serve and 51% of his second serve. The Russian could only convert eight of his twenty-two breakpoints against the Serbian.

Roman Safiullin has hit 119 aces this season and has committed a total of 62 double faults so far. He has won 76% of his service games but could only manage to win 36% of his return games. But has he ever faced the former world number six in his career before?

Berrettini vs Safiullin: Head-to-Head

Yes, Roman Safiullin has met Matteo Berrettini once in their careers so far. They had met each other previously in the qualifiers of the Challenger Shenzhen and in that match, Safiullin defeated Berrettini by 6(3)-7,6-4,7-6(4). The Russian tennis star hit eight aces and committed six double faults in that match. Matteo Berrettini managed to hammer fourteen aces against Safiullin and committed just a single double fault in the entire match.

However, Safiullin won 85% of his first serve and 62% of his second serve in that match, while it was just around 78% and 53% respectively for the Italian tennis star. Roman Safiullin converted all four of his breakpoints but Matteo Berrettini could only convert three of his four breakpoints. Looking at these stats, fans can easily get an idea about how close this match can get in Stuttgart this year! But who will have the slight edge before stepping onto the court?

Prediction: Berrettini to win in three sets

Matteo Berrettini has won four out of his last five matches so far and currently, he has a win-loss record of 5-3. On the other hand, Roman Safiullin has lost three of his last five matches and his win-loss record is currently, 6-13. So, looking at their overall form this season, the Italian looks slightly ahead of the Russian tennis star. Matteo Berrettini reached the finals of the Wimbledon Championships in 2021, while Roman Safiullin reached the QF of the Wimbledon last year. This shows that both the players are quite used to these surfaces.

Both the players love to play an aggressive brand of tennis. Berrettini is one of the fastest servers on the tour and he often uses heavy topspin and forehand to dictate the rallies. His biggest weapon is his forehand but his backhand is relatively weaker. However, Matteo Berrettini often uses drop shots to deceive his opponents. Roman Safiullin needs to be on his toes all the time to challenge the Italian. But looking at their record on the grass courts and overall form this season, Berrettini seems mostly likely to win this match in Stuttgart.