Russia’s Safiullin wins again at 2024 Shanghai Masters tournament, to face Djokovic next

SHANGHAI, October 8. /TASS/. Russian tennis player Roman Safiullin is moving on at the 2024 ATP Shanghai Masters tournament in China after defeating Frances Tiafoe of the United States in Round 3 on Tuesday.
The Russian, who is playing at the tournament under a neutral status, battled back from a set and a break deficit to upset 13th-seed Tiafoe in three sets 5-7; 7-5; 7-6 (7-5). Safiullin is now set to play in the next round against ageless wonder Novak Djokovic of Serbia.
Safiullin, 27, is currently 61st 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.
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 decided to bar 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 taking part in the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.
However, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but only under a neutral status.