Jul 31, 2025; Toronto, ON, Canada; Holger Rune (DEN) plays a shot against Alexandre Muller (FRA) during third round play at Sobeys Stadium.

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Holger Rune vs. Roman Safiullin Head-to-Head, Prediction and Betting Odds for ATP Cincinnati Open 2025 Round-2

Winner to face Michelsen or Moutet in Round-3.

Jul 31, 2025; Toronto, ON, Canada; Holger Rune (DEN) plays a shot against Alexandre Muller (FRA) during third round play at Sobeys Stadium.

The 2025 Cincinnati Masters presents a massive opportunity for No. 7 seed Holger Rune to announce himself among the elite ATP stars. The Danish prodigy squares off against Roman Safiullin of Russia in the Round of 64 on Court-3 on Saturday, with a spot in Round-3 up for grabs. Continue reading to know more about this rivalry, career graphs, predictions and BetMGM’s betting odds for this clash.

After pulling out of the Citi DC Open due to injury, Holger Rune made a solid return at the National Bank Open. He was eventually defeated by defending champion Alexei Popyrin in the Round of 16. Rune’s solitary title in 2025 came at the Barcelona Open, where he stunned World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the summit clash. Possessing a 24-15 win-loss record this season, the 22-year-old is preparing for the US Open where he is yet to pass the third round. Rune has an 80% success rate when it comes to hard court service games.

Saturday first match on court 3. 11:00 local time , 17:00 European time ⚡️
— Holger Rune (@holgerrune2003) August 8, 2025

World No. 80 Roman Safiullin made headlines when he beat Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev at two different Masters-1000 events in 2023. The 28-year-old has gone past the Round of 32 stage just once this season – in Mallorca. In his opening round here in Cincinnati, Safiullin thrashed Alejandro Tabilo in straight sets. With a winning rate of just under 50% this year, he will need to pull off an upset of gigantic proportions to advance to the next stage.

Roman Safiullin in Cincinnati 🎾 pic.twitter.com/UoCqvCeX8s
— Mario Boccardi (@boccardi_marioo) August 5, 2025

Holger Rune vs Roman Safiullin Head to Head Record

Rune has a 2-0 record in the head-to-head against Safiullin. Both their previous meetings took place in 2024.

At the start of the season on Australian soil, Rune had the challenge of beating a man who had ended 2023 with plenty of positives. The top seed at the tournament in Brisbane, Rune pulled off a straight sets win over his Russian opposition en route to a runner-up finish. Later that year, the duo clashed in the Rotterdam Round of 32. It was the Dane who emerged victorious yet again – this time in three sets.

Event	Round	Winner	Score
2024 Rotterdam	Round of 32	Holger Rune	6-4 2-6 6-1
2024 Brisbane	Semifinal	Holger Rune	6-4 7-6(0)

Holger Rune vs Roman Safiullin Career Comparison

Holger Rune	Category	Roman Safiullin
0	Grand Slams	0
5	ATP Singles Titles	0
0	ATP Doubles Titles	0
1	Masters-1000 Titles	0
–	Olympics Best Performance	R3 (Paris 2024)
No. 9	Current World Ranking	No. 80

Holger Rune vs Roman Safiullin ATP Cincinnati Open 2025 Prediction

Owing to the fact that Rune is defending semifinalist points in Cincinnati this year, there will be added pressure on him. The World No. 9 has superior court coverage and consistency on his groundstrokes. While Safiullin was extremely strong on serve in his first round match-up (86% on first serve and 80% on second serve), his return game could leave him vulnerable.

Prediction: Holger Rune in straight sets.

Holger Rune vs Roman Safiullin ATP Cincinnati Open 2025 Betting Odds

Rune is the outright favourite in this Round-2 contest against the underdog Safiullin at Cincinnati. According to the pre-match implied probability on the money line, the Dane has a 76.5% chance of progressing to the Round of 32. Here are the odds for the match result as well as in-match specifics (as per BetMGM):

Holger Rune Win: 8/25
Roman Safiullin Win: 49/20

Total Games >22.5: 9/10
Rune -1.5 (Set Handicap): 10/11
Safiullin +3.5 (Game Handicap): 9/10
Rune to Win 2-0: 41/50
Total Games in Set-1 <10.5: 5/11

(According to BetMGM: BetMGM offers exclusive promo codes, bonus deals and accurate odds for users upon signing up. Use BetMGM to ace your betting game in all sports!)

(Image Credits: Dan Hamilton, Imagn Images)

ATP

Betting

Cincinnati Open

Corentin Moutet

Holger Rune

Roman Safiullin

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US Open 2025

Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.