Karatsev in Australian Open SF in 1st Slam
Melbourne, Feb 16 (AP): Aslan Karatsev never had managed to make it into the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. Now he just refuses to leave the Australian Open.
Karatsev, a 27-year-old Russian qualifier who is ranked 114th, became the first man in the professional era to reach the semifinals of his first major tennis tournament by beating 18th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday. It’s an unbelievable feeling, Karatsev said. Of course, it’s first time. First time in main draw; first time semis. It’s incredible.
That’s a pretty good word for what he has managed to do. Karatsev failed in nine previous attempts to go through qualifying rounds to play at a Grand Slam tournament.
Now he’s making the most of it, getting past Dimitrov a three-time major semifinalist after also eliminating two other seeded players, No. 8 Diego Schwartzman and No. 20 Felix Auger-Aliassime. It’s great to see. I think it’s great to see, Dimitrov said about Karatsev’s success.
