Safiullin stuns Muller as Moutet rallies past Martinez in Mallorca opener

MALLORCA,Spain : Russian Roman Safiullin delivered an early upset at the Mallorca Open on Monday, defeating French fifth seed Alexandre Muller 7-6(5), 7-5 in a tightly contested first-round clash. Safiullin maintained pressure from the start and edged the opening-set tiebreak before rallying from a break down in the second to secure victory. He will next face Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic, who breezed past American Nishesh Basavareddy 6-0, 6-4.

Meanwhile, Corentin Moutet overcame a slow and emotional start to beat Spanish wildcard Pedro Martinez 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. The Frenchman, who recently stunned Taylor Fritz at Queen’s, regained composure after a fiery first set, exploiting Martinez’s physical struggles to dominate the final two sets and reach the last 16.