Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the Madrid Masters match.
On Wednesday afternoon, the opening round of the Madrid Masters will feature a tightly matched contest on the clay courts between two similarly ranked ATP players: Roman Safiullin, currently world No. 73, and Arthur Rinderknech, ranked 76th. The pair have faced each other twice previously, with Roman Safiullin coming out on top on both occasions.
Roman Safiullin
Their previous meetings occurred on hard courts in 2022. The first came in January at the ATP Cup, where Roman Safiullin secured a comeback win with scores of 2:6, 7:5, 6:3. The second took place in September in Tel Aviv — an indoor hard-court setting — where Safiullin delivered a commanding 6:4, 6:1 victory. At the time, he was ranked outside the top 100, while Arthur Rinderknech was a top-60 player. Safiullin was still a season away from his breakout year in 2023. However, 2025 has not begun positively for Roman, who has registered just three wins from ten main draw matches this year. Among the few bright spots was a gritty three-set victory over world No. 26 Alexei Popyrin (6:7, 6:3, 7:5) in the second round at Indian Wells.
Arthur Rinderknech
Arthur Rinderknech’s season has been even less promising. He has suffered ten defeats, with only two wins to his name — against world No. 130 Harold Mayot in Montpellier (7:6, 2:6, 6:1) and world No. 208 Dmitry Popko in Delray Beach (6:2, 6:4). Including his results in qualifying and Challenger-level events, the advantage still lies with Safiullin, who holds a 9-9 record this season, compared to Arthur Rinderknech’s 4-13. On clay, Roman Safiullin also holds the edge, with a 3-1 record vs Arthur Rinderknech’s 2-3.
Roman Safiullin vs Arthur Rinderknech Prediction
Neither player has found much success against top-50 opponents, but in this head-to-head, the Russian represents the more dependable option — especially considering his quarter-final run at Wimbledon just two seasons ago.
