Roman Safiullin vs Ilia Simakin Prediction Almaty Open - Almaty · Oct 18, 2026

Analysis

Safiullin arrives as the more established tour-level operator of the two, and his flat, first-strike ball striking plus a heavy serve travel well on quick indoor hard courts like Almaty. He came through a three-set test against Ilya Ivashka on 17 October and before that handled Rinky Hijikata and Shintaro Mochizuki in straight sets, with his only recent defeats coming back-to-back against Francisco Cerundolo. Simakin is in decent rhythm himself: he edged Luka Pavlovic 2-1 on 17 October, beat the same opponent 2-1 on 5 October and dismissed Rigele Te 2-0, while pushing Camilo Ugo Carabelli to three sets on 8 October. The pattern in his matches is telling, though — he tends to need the distance even against lower-ranked opposition, whereas Safiullin's wins have mostly been clean two-set jobs. Both men played a three-setter yesterday, so freshness is roughly level, which removes one of Simakin's few possible edges. On serve quality and the ability to end rallies early, the edge sits clearly with Safiullin, and a straight-sets win is the most likely single outcome.