Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the ATP Winston-Salem match.
The opening round in Winston-Salem brings together two players whose seasons have been far from smooth, but on hard courts Safiullin has the better chance to raise his level and put an end to his poor run of results.
Roman Safiullin
The Russian enters with a negative win-loss record (12-18), but at both Toronto and Cincinnati Safiullin cleared the first hurdle without much difficulty. His main strengths lie in his hard-court experience and Challenger titles on this surface. In 2025 he has frequently been drawn into long matches, often pushing sets to tie-breaks. In his last 10 outings, only twice have fewer than 22 games been played. Roman also has the resilience to fight back, even when the opening set goes against him.
Christopher O’Connell
O’Connell has endured a difficult campaign, losing six of his last eight matches and retiring in Toronto against Alex de Minaur due to fitness issues. His serve remains a weapon, allowing him to hold fairly comfortably, but he lacks conviction in rallies. This season Christopher has regularly slipped up against players outside the top 100, and since late April he has suffered nine defeats in 12 matches.
Roman Safiullin vs Christopher O’Connell Prediction
Their only previous meeting came back in 2017 at a Challenger in the Czech Republic, where Safiullin ran out a convincing 6:2, 6:2 winner. Given his match sharpness and preference for this surface, the Russian looks the more likely victor here. Yet with Safiullin’s tendency to stretch matches, expect this one to last at least 22 games.
