MOSCOW, Jan 18 Russian tennis player Roman Safiullin failed to reach the second round Australian Open, which takes place in Melbourne. In the first round meeting, the Russian lost to the Slovak Alex Molchan with a score of 3:6, 6:7 (9:11), 7:5, 6:7 (6:8). The duration of the match was 3 hours 26 minutes. Safiullin replaced the eighth racket of the world Norwegian Kasper Ruud, who withdrew from the Australian Open due to an ankle injury, in the main draw of the Grand Slam tournament. In the next round, Molchan will play with Spaniard Pablo Andujar.
