Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev, the man from nowhere, reaches the final four

We were told to expect the unexpected at this year’s Australian Open, yet the story of Aslan Karatsev is scarcely believable.

Aslan Karatsev is the lowest-ranked man to reach the last four of a major since 2001

We were told to expect the unexpected at this year’s Australian Open, yet the story of Aslan Karatsev is scarcely believable. Ranked No 114 in the world, the 27-year-old Russian qualifier is the first man in the open era to reach the semi-finals on his grand-slam debut, where he will face Novak Djokovic, the world No 1.

For 10 years Karatsev has ploughed away in the lower tiers of the professional circuit, with little success, winning only one of the 93 Challenger events he contested before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirteen months ago his ranking, outside the top 250, was not high enough to gain entry to the qualifying draw in Melbourne. But his brand of attacking tennis has at last come together, earning him at least $850,000 in prize money. Before this fortnight his career earnings came to $800,000.

Karatsev recovered from a set down to beat Grigor Dimitrov 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2. The world No 21 from Bulgaria struggled towards the end, leaving the court for treatment on his back at the end of the third set.

Still, this takes nothing away from Karatsev’s achievement, becoming the lowest-ranked man to reach the last four of a major tournament since Goran Ivanisevic’s triumph from a position of No 125 at Wimbledon in 2001. Karatsev walked off the court to more than 200 WhatsApp messages from excitable friends and family. “It’s an unbelievable feeling,” he said. “It is my first time playing the main draw and first time in the semis. It’s incredible.”

Karatsev’s clean ball-striking and easy power off both sides is working well on hard courts at Melbourne Park that are playing faster than previous years and he is now guaranteed to enter the top 50 next week, at about No 42. Should he beat Djokovic in Thursday’s semi-final and go on to complete the fairytale with the unlikeliest of titles, then he would become the world No 14.

Appointing a new coach last year appears to be the catalyst behind Karatsev’s sudden rise to prominence. He relocated to Minsk to work with Yahor Yatsyk, a former Belarusian player, and subsequently won 26 of 32 matches after the resumption of the tour in August.

Coming through three matches at the Australian Open’s qualifying event in Doha last month helped his rhythm and confidence, while the quarantine requirements in Melbourne have somewhat levelled the playing field.

“I try to believe in what I’m doing on the court, and it’s helped me to win matches,” Karatsev said. “I arrive to the court and say, ‘I try to do my best with more belief.’ The key is the right coach that I found. I was really lucky to find him.”

Karatsev will use his power to try to expose Djokovic’s lack of fitness. The 33-year-old Serbian is playing with an abdominal strain he described as the worst injury he has had at a major tournament.

On Tuesday he survived several gruelling rallies over three hours and 30 minutes to beat Alexander Zverev, the world No 7 from Germany, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) in a match that finished at 12.30am local time.

The turning point came in the third set, when Zverev led 4-2 and served his first two double faults of the match to relinquish the break. Moments earlier Djokovic had smashed his racket against the court in anger, leaving a ball girl to sweep up the debris.

“It was a relief, but I wouldn’t recommend this kind of relief-channelling,” Djokovic said. “When I break the racket, of course I’m not proud of that. (But) you go through a lot of inner battles, and everyone is different. I have my own demons that I have to fight with, and I’m sure everybody else has them too.

“It helped, even though I didn’t intentionally do it for it to help me. It’s an accumulation of things that happened in big moments and some shots that were missed. I just kind of let it go. Poor racket.”

The Times