Safiullin exits Almaty after defeat by Shimabukuro

Roman Safiullin has been knocked out of the singles draw at the ATP 250 tournament in Almaty after losing his opening match to Japan’s Sho Shimabukuro.

The October 20 match lasted 2 hours and 8 minutes. Safiullin won the opening-set tie-break before losing the remaining sets. Shimabukuro’s winning score was 6:7 (4:7), 6:4, 6:4.

Safiullin is ranked 70th in the ATP standings, while Shimabukuro is 109th. The tournament in Kazakhstan offers more than $1 million in prize money.

Shimabukuro will next face Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, the tournament’s top seed.