Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Roman Safiullin Prediction: Roman Won't Be Lucky This Time Too

In the final pf 128 of the Australian Open, No. 77, Thanasi Kokkinakis, will face Roman Safiullin, No. 62 in the world rankings. The athletes have met once before, with Thanasi winning that match 1-0. The bookies think Thanasi will win again, and they're right. 

Thanasi Kokkinakis

Thanasi played two matches in the new season in Adelaide, where he beat Nishioka and Etcheverry. Thanasi withdrew from the match against Korda because of a thigh injury. But it's worth mentioning that in 2024, the Australian won two Challengers in Sarasota and Sydney.

Roman Safiullin

Safiullin finished last season in Bratislava and Belgrade. In Slovakia, the Russian won the tournament, beating Collignon in the final. In Serbia, Roman beat Fognini, but lost to Cerundolo in two sets. Overall, it wasn't a great season for Roman, who dropped from 39th in the rankings to 62nd, even though he won two Challengers. In 2025, Safiullin played two official matches: in Hong Kong, he lost to Marozsan, and in Adelaide, Guinard.

H2H Meetings

Kokkinakis and Safiullin have played each other once, in September 2021, and that meeting was won in three sets by the Australian 7-6, 3-6, 6-2.

Expert Betting Tips

Safiullin hasn't been too happy with his results lately, failing both matches in the new season while Kokkinakis won every time. Thanasi has experience of beating the Russian, so there's a lot of evidence that in the upcoming game the choice should be made in favour of Kokkinakis. We're expecting a pretty solid game - not too short, not too long - since the opponents are pretty evenly matched.