Australian Open: Aslan Karatsev - "I showed that I can keep up with everyone"
Aslan Karatsev's trip to the Australian Open has come to an end. Just minutes after losing to Novak Djokovic , the Russian can look back on the past few days with a smile.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit:
Feb 19, 2021, 08:23 am
In the end, it was a clear three-set defeat that should seal Aslan Karatsev's elimination from the Australian Open in 2021. A sentence that any tennis fan would have signed before the tournament. The fact that this sentence is in the context of a semi-final duel with eight-time champion Novak Djokovic would probably not have been thought possible by even the most ardent optimist in the Russian's camp.
And yet the 2021 Australian Open was a tournament where this 27-year-old Russian would make history. From qualifying to the semi-finals - and that at the Grand Slam debut: That has never happened before - and Karatsev will probably not be able to do it for a long time. The Russian was correspondingly happy after his elimination against Novak Djokovic: "It's been an incredible two weeks for me. It was an incredible experience that I will remember all my life."
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Today's match against Djokovic will - despite the defeat - bring him further in his professional career , the Russian was convinced in the press conference after his three-set defeat. The fact that he had a large part of the fans behind him was simply "spectacular", as Karatsev emphasizes. Nevertheless, it was by far the most difficult game in his one and a half week trip down under: "Djokovic is an incredible tennis player who doesn't give you any free points. In the vast majority of my service games I had to pull him from the baseline into a rally." said the Russian. The difference in quality to Auger-Aliassime, Dimitrov and Schwartzman - all of whom Karatsev had beaten - is "obviously huge," states the 27-year-old.
Karatsev is in the top 50
The two weeks at the Australian Open should now ensure a breakthrough for Aslan Karatsev in the normal operation of the ATP tour, the Russian is convinced: "In these two weeks I have shown that I can compete against all tennis players on the tour and can keep up with everyone. That will help me a lot in the next tournaments. I have also improved a lot in my ranking, climbed many positions and placed myself in the top 50 for the first time in my career, "said Karatsev, next Monday will probably be at number 42 on the ATP charts.
In any case, the Russian now wants to take full advantage of the great advantage of not having to go through the qualification anymore due to his ranking. In the coming weeks, starts in Doha, Dubai and Miami are on the program. "I would like to take advantage of that in 2021 and play as many tournaments as possible and take advantage of the good dynamics of the results and the game," explains Karatsev, who finished the Australian Open despite the semi-finals as it would be for a whiz like him was heard: With a smile on his face.