Canadian Open 2025: Casper Ruud vs Roman Safiullin preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick | National Bank Open

Match Details

Fixture: (8) Casper Ruud vs Roman Safiullin

Date: July 29, 2025

Tournament: National Bank Open

Round: Second Round (Round of 64)

Venue: Sobeys Stadium, Toronto, Canada

Category: ATP 1000

Surface: Hard

Prize Money: $9,193,540

Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel, TC Plus | UK - Sky Sports | Canada - Sportsnet, TVA

Casper Ruud vs Roman Safiullin preview

Eighth seed Casper Ruud of Norway will take on Roman Safiullin of Russia in the second round of the National Bank Open in Toronto on Tuesday, July 29.

Ruud, who is a three-time Grand Slam finalist, has not been having a great time this year, aside from his title triumph at the Madrid Open. He reached the second round of both the Australian Open and the French Open, as well as the quarterfinals of the Italian Open and the Swiss Open.

Safiullin has had an even more indifferent year. He lost in the first round of both the French Open and Wimbledon. He managed to reach the round of 16 at the Mallorca Open, in what has been his best showing so far this year. As a result, his ranking has plummeted, and the Russian is now ranked 82nd in the world. Safiullin beat Ugo Blanchet in the first round of the National Bank Open in three sets

Casper Ruud vs Roman Safiullin head-to-head

The two players have not played with each other until now, and their head-to-head stands at 0-0 at the moment.

Casper Ruud vs Roman Safiullin odds

(Odds will be added once available)

Casper Ruud vs Roman Safiullin prediction

Ruud has a pretty solid game overall. His backhand is probably somewhat below par if one compares it to the other aspects of his game. However, Safiullin can match the Norwegian's groundstrokes with his own.

The Russian can strike the ball really well and has the serve and net-play to go with it. However, his form is a bit uncertain at the moment, and he might not have enough to get past a top player like Ruud.

Safiullin's only chance seems to be putting pressure on Ruud's backhand. He will have to make sure that Ruud is not able to go around his backhand often enough. Should the Norwegian be able to hit his inside-out and inside-in forehands frequently and also manage to dominate with his forehand crosscourt, Safiullin will have a negligible chance of going through. However, the Russian's ability to play the high-risk shots well should give an outside chance of causing an upset.

Pick: Ruud to win in three sets.

Edited by Riddhiman Sarkar