Roman Safiullin defeats Brazilian rising star João Fonseca at Wimbledon to reach the fourth round, winning 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. Safiullin, a qualifier ranked No. 132, converts the upset and prevents Fonseca from advancing to a matchup that would have potentially affected Novak Djokovic’s tournament route. Fonseca is seeded No. 24.
Safiullin’s run comes after a period of injury recovery. He has previously dealt with a knee problem that disrupted his season, and he describes having to stop after the U.S. Open to receive treatment. This week, he has already ended the tournament runs of multiple higher-ranked players, including a first-round win over 12th-seeded Andrey Rublev.
After beating Fonseca, Safiullin becomes emotional and speaks about returning to Wimbledon. In the next stage, he is set to play either Novak Djokovic or Arthur Rinderknech for a place in the quarterfinals, depending on the outcome of their match underway.
