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Russian tennis player Safiullin through to second round of 2025 US Open

Roman Safiullin will now square off in the second round against the 25th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime from Canada

NEW YORK, August 27. /TASS/. Russian tennis player Roman Safiullin is on to round two at the 2025 US Open after defeating Gael Monfils from France on late Tuesday night.

The unseeded Russian, who is playing under neutral status at the tournament, defeated his French opponent 6-4; 2-6; 6-1;3-6; 6-4 and will now square off in the second round against the 25th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime from Canada.

Safiullin, 28, is currently 94th in the ATP Rankings. He has never won an ATP title. In Grand Slams, the best he has done is reaching the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2023.

The 2025 US Open is being held on outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York between August 24 and September 7. The tournament will award $90 million in prize money. Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus are the reigning champions in men’s and women’s singles respectively.

 

Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments

 

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC's recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations moved to exclude athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1, 2022, to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also canceling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.

On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition on the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from participating in the 2022 Davis Cup and the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.

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