MELBOURNE, Australia – Grand Slams has an unusual fairy tale run.
Often, there will be one or two players who reject their rankings and feature an unprecedented appearance in a major: Jo – Wilfried Tsonga ‘s stunning run in 2008 to reach the Australian Open final; Hyeon Chung defeats Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev before conceding to half-way footwork through his groove here against Roger Federer in the 2018 semifinals; Grass court specialist Tsvetana Pironkova dreams of running to the 2018 U.S. Open finals after a year off after birth; and unseeded Jelena Ostapenko shocked Simona Halep to win the 2017 French Open.
At the Australian Open, world No. 114 Aslan Karatsev about to add his story to the list.
The 27-year-old Russian player has reached the semifinals here after beating the No. 18 seed Grigor Dimitrov 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday, becoming as the first in the Open (since 1968) to reach the last four of a Grand Slam in his debut album. He is the lowest ranked man to reach the four finals of the Australian Open from Patrick McEnroe, who was also No. 114 in 1991, and the semifinals of any Slam since Goran Ivanisevic went to No. 125 at 2001 Wimbledon. (Ivanisevic went on to win the title as a wildcard.)
“It feels unbelievable. The first time in the men’s draw, and the first time in the semis, it’s unbelievable,” Karatsev said. “I’m just trying to enjoy the moment and not think [the run] too much and playing from tour to tour. “
But he hasn’t been successful lately. He comes from a decision he said he started when he was younger and just learned about the sport.
Born in the Russian city of Vladikavkaz, Karatsev and his family moved to Tel Aviv, Israel, when he was 3 years old and shortly thereafter, he picked up tennis. By the time he was 12, he had begun a mobile move – first to Rostov, Russia, then Taganrog, and later to Moscow. By the time he reached his early 20s, he had also spent time in Germany and Barcelona.
“Yes, I was moving, I’d say, too much,” he said.
Bloomer late with anyone’s explanation, Karatsev spent the best part of a globetrotting decade for training and, eventually, competing in the ITF Futures and ATP Challenger rounds. He almost gave up the sport four years ago when he was constantly plagued by knee injuries.
“It was a difficult time for me because I got over it after all [a previous] injured, and then 2017 started, and I start playing again, and again. I felt the knee, and I said, ‘Whoa,’ “Karatsev said. I stopped again for two and a half months, almost three, and I think so [was] the hardest part [of my career]. “
But something seemed to click once he made contact with coach Yahor Yatsyk almost three years ago.
“Eventually, I found out [Yatsyk] and this is the right man for me, “Karatsev said.” It has helped me a lot, more than the mental part, and then of course, there is the technical stuff as well. I was very lucky to find it – we only met in one competition. I played Futures, and we said, ‘Okay, let’s try to work together.’ “
Along with Yatsyk and fitness coach Luis Lopes, who is based in Doha, Qatar, Karatsev has settled into a hard practice. With the help of his support team, Karatsev set new goals. While his goal of being in the top 100 by the end of 2020 did not materialize, the move toward a strong run had picked up.
In 2020, playing on the ATP Challenger Tour after stopping COVID-19, Karatsev put together a series of consistent results. At Prague in August, Karatsev lost to Stan Wawrinka in the final. At the Prague II tournament next week, he won his first title from the ITF Futures title in January 2018, and won again at Ostrava shortly afterwards. Last month, Karatsev appeared three doubles for Team Russia during the cup at the ATP Cup. Although he was on the losing side of all three games, his senior Russian players noticed something special.
“[I am] very happy for Aslan, because he worked well in the ATP Cup, “said Daniil Medvedev, who is looking for his own semifinal place and played with Karatsev for Team Russia.” We felt as if he could do something amazing. To be honest, being in your first major Grand Slam draw and making quarters is something special. It is not [done] however. “
A self-proclaimed “aggressive” bullet maker, Karatsev’s style of play has worked perfectly on the hard courts here, which players say are faster than ever.
“I’ve played here before, and it was slower, yes,” said Karatsev, who appeared in testimonials here in 2015 and 2016. “I think the surface is fast for me, it’s always good. I take the time for the opponent. you serve well, it’s always good. “
Karatsev’s high-risk, high-stakes style means that while he sprays flat winners past his opponents at an incredible rate, he’s also prone to making mistakes. In every game so far, he has been up against his opponents for winners beaten throughout the game, but in all but his two opening games, he has has also been on the wrong side of the non-critical error account.
It’s “nothing to lose” tennis, but it works, as its heavy, unparalleled style pays off elegantly on favorable court conditions. Karatsev dropped just 11 games in his first two games before taking down Diego Schwartzman’s top seed (8) in straight sets, Felix Auger-Aliassime (20) in five and Dimitrov (18) in four – the first. three professional wins against a top- 25 opponents.
Next up, he will face No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals on Thursday (3:30 am ET; watch ESPN2 and the ESPN App), as one of two Russians to reach the semifinals (Medvedev and Andrey Rublev face in a quarter -quarter on the other half of the draw). And with his semifinals appearance, Karatsev is ready to earn more money from this tournament alone (at least $ 662,000) than combined in a full career ($ 618,354).
“I try to believe, every game, what I do on the court, and it has helped me win games,” he said. “I’ll come to court and say, ‘ Okay, I’ll try my best, and with more faith. “