MELBOURNE, Australia – He is the mysterious man who has heard few days in the sport. But Aslan Karatsev of Russia ended up in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
In one of the most unlikely runs in the history of modern tennis, Karatsev on Tuesday became one of the few players to reach the last four of a Grand Slam after surviving the qualifying tournament when he defeated a sick Grigor Dimitrov from Bulgaria in four sets 2 beat. -6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.
Karatsev, 27, who was born in Russia, moved to Israel as a child and then returned to Russia as a teenager to pursue better tennis training, according to The Times of Israel. He has played in the tennis countries with little success for several years. He had never qualified for a Grand Slam before this tournament. He won three consecutive matches during the Australian Open qualifiers in Doha to secure a place in the main event and reached number 114 in the world. He has never been higher than number 111.
Dimitrov seems to have had the game under control after the first set, but he appeared in the third set to look back spasms in the third set, and the rest of the game appears to be.
Only four other players reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam after advancing to the qualifying round.
Prior to the Australian Open, he played a doubles match for Team Russia in the ATP Cup, a team event in which players represent their countries. Russia won the competition, but not because of Karatsev, who lost all three of the matches in which he played with two different partners.
His teammates noticed that he was playing as well as they had ever seen, and yet none of them would have predicted such a thing.
“We felt he could do something wonderful,” said Daniil Medvedev, Russia’s leading player and number 4 seeded in the Australian Open. ‘To be honest, with your first Grand Slam draw? Making quarters is something exceptional. He’s not over yet. ”
He certainly is not.
Karatsev tackles the winner of the match between Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev, which is scheduled for Tuesday night.