The Russian school.

A few notable differences between these two players, but in essence, they like to do the same things: hit hard, in rhythm, and without variation from the baseline.

Only one meeting between these two players, but they must know each other perfectly since they were kids. Last week, it was Daniil who faced Safiullin, and this week it’s Rublev’s turn. Rublev is coming off a tough match against Griekspoor where he played well, especially serving very well. Yet he still really struggled to read his opponent’s serve, just like he did against Medvedev. He got himself locked into a complex match and almost choked in the deciding tie-break, but he pulled himself together. It’s a good win because he’s lost a lot of matches like this one this season and, combined with last week’s good performances, this kind of run is going to do him a world of good.

Safiullin is in good form as well. After only losing to the eventual champion last week, he took out a top-10 player in the form of Coboli. The Italian wasn’t at his best physically or tennis-wise, but as he said in the press conference, he got destroyed and Safiullin played really, really well, which I can obviously confirm. The Russian was exceptional from the baseline and almost never wavered in this match-up. We know he can be dangerous on his Asian swings, and he’s showing it again. With a day of rest and a match that really boosted his confidence, I still get the feeling that he’ll have to be taken very seriously tomorrow. But it’s also not at all the same kind of opposition waiting for him.

It’s hard to say who is going to enjoy playing the other more. We’ve got two players who both want to take control of the game and impose a high tempo. The one who finds himself on the front foot most of the time will probably be the one who wins this match.