MELBOURNE, Australia – Aslan Karatsev had never made it to the grand draw of a Grand Slam tournament. Now he simply refuses to leave the Australian Open.
Karatsev, a 27-year-old Russian who ranked 114th in the ranking, became the first man in the professional age to reach the semifinals of his first major tennis tournament by defeating Grigor Dimitrov, 18th, 2-6, 6 -4, 6- 1, 6-2 on Tuesday.
“It feels incredible,” said Karatsev. “Sure, it’s the first time. First time in the main draw, first semifinal. It’s incredible. ”
That’s a very good word for what he managed to do. Karatsev has failed in nine previous attempts to go through the qualifying rounds to play in a Grand Slam tournament.
Now he is making the most of it, overtaking Dimitrov – three times a major semifinalist – after also eliminating two other top players, No. 8 Diego Schwartzman and No. 20 Felix Auger-Aliassime.
“It’s great to see. I think it’s great to see, ” said Dimitrov of Karatsev’s success.” Astonished? No.”
Bothered by the spam that developed on Monday, Dimitrov was not at his best. He ended the game barely able to serve – and barely managed to climb the stairs when leaving Rod Laver Arena.
Dimitrov jumped to the lead with three breaks in the first set. He then had seven break points in Karatsev’s first two service games in the second set, but did not convert any of them.
That was when Karatsev began to believe that he could stretch his already remarkable race even further.
“In the beginning it was very difficult for me to control my nerves,” said Karatsev. “It was complicated. 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 coach and gave medical time to treat a muscle problem in his lower back.
He didn’t miss a set in his first four games at the Australian Open, but said he had trouble putting on his socks before the match.
“It started yesterday, ‘” said Dimitrov, “out of nowhere.
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 semifinals in any Slam since Goran Ivanisevic was no. 125 in 2001 at Wimbledon.
Karatsev will face eight-time champion Novak Djokovic or Alexander Zverev next. Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev face off in the quarterfinals in the other half of the draw on Wednesday, meaning there will be two Russians in the semifinals in Melbourne Park.
Asked about the possibility of a totally Russian final, Karatsev kept what he knows.
“I try not to think about it,” he said, adding that he simply “goes from match to match.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.