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MELBOURNE, Australia – Aslan Karatsev had never made it into the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. Now he is simply refusing to leave the Australian Open.
Karatsev, a 27-year-old Russian qualifier ranked 114th, became the first professional-era man to reach the semi-finals of his first major tennis tournament by defeating 18th seeded Grigor Dimitrov 2-6, 6-4 , 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” Karatsev said. “Of course this is the first time. First time in the main draw, first time in the semi-finals. It’s amazing. ”
It’s a very good word for what he managed to do. Karatsev has failed on nine previous attempts to go through the qualifying rounds to play a Grand Slam tournament.
Now he’s making the most of it, overtaking Dimitrov – a three-time major semifinalist – after also knocking out two other seeds, 8th Diego Schwartzman and 20th Felix Auger-Aliassime.
“It’s great to see. I think it’s great to see,” Dimitrov said of Karatsev’s success. “Surprised? No.”
Embarrassed by the spam emails that developed on Monday, Dimitrov was not at his best. He ended the match barely able to serve – and barely able to climb the stairs as he left Rod Laver Arena.
Dimitrov quickly took the lead with three service interruptions in the first set. He went on to hold seven break points in Karatsev’s first two service matches in the second set, but failed to convert any of them.
It was at this point that Karatsev began to believe that he could stretch his already remarkable stroke even further.
“It was really hard at first for me to hold back,” Karatsev said. “It was difficult. I tried to play in the second set, to find a way to play.”
Dimitrov stopped chasing shots in the third set, then was visited by a trainer and took medical time out for treatment on a muscle problem around his lower back.
He hadn’t given up a set in his first four matches at the Australian Open, but said he struggled to put on his socks before the game.
“It started yesterday,” Dimitrov said “out of the blue”.
Karatsev is the lowest-ranked man to reach the Australian Open semifinals since Patrick McEnroe – John’s brother – was also No.114 in 1991 – and the lowest-ranked man to reach the semi-finals at any Slam since Goran Ivanisevic was No. 114. 125 at 2001 Wimbledon.
Karatsev will then face Novak Djokovic or Alexander Zverev, eight times champion. Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev meet in the quarterfinals on the other half of the draw on Wednesday, which means there will be two Russians in the semi-finals at Melbourne Park.
When asked about the possibility of an all-Russian final, Karatsev stuck to what he knew.
“I try not to think about it,” he said, adding that he “just goes from game to game”.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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