Australian Open: Qualifier Karatsev after defeating ailing Dimitrov in the semifinals
Qualifier Aslan Karatsev is completely surprising in the semifinals of the Australian Open. The man from Russia also benefited from an injury to his quarter-final opponent Grigor Dimitrov.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Feb 16, 2021, 07:57 am
Aslan Karatsev won in the end with 2: 6, 6: 4, 6: 1 and 6: 2 against Dimitrov, who was beaten from the middle of the third set and was no longer in full force.
By then, both had had a nervous match. Dimitrov with the prospect of having a good chance of a fourth major semi-final as a favorite - Karatsev before the biggest game of his career. Dimitrov, currently number 21 in the world, had an early break, Karatsev, the ATP No. 114, had equalized, but then the Bulgarian pulled away. But missed a long service game from Karatsev to 2-0 in the second round, instead he caught an unnecessary break to 4: 5 and ultimately to equalize the set. Bitter: He left seven break chances in set two.
In the third round, the tension suddenly eased at Dimitrov, Dimitrov had a back - initially he only followed the balls to a limited extent, then let the last two games run completely. An injury break after the set got him back on his feet at least halfway, but he was far from a 100 percent return.
Karatsev has thus managed to qualify for his first main field appearance in the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament - a novelty. In general, he is only the fifth qualifier to reach the semifinals of a major.
He is now waiting for the opponent of the game between world number one Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev (from 10.30 a.m. here in the live ticker) .
Here is the men's single tableau
laver arena