Seventh heaven: Aslan Karatsev’s meteoric rise hurtles on as tennis sensation nabs title & comparison to ex-world number one Safin
Australian Open hero Aslan Karatsev has broken into the top 30 and ensured that a remarkable run for Russian tennis players continued in style, winning as a wildcard in Dubai to become the third champ from his country this season.
Little-known before the start of this year, Karatsev confirmed that his sensational run as a qualifier to the semi-finals of the first Grand Slam of 2021 was more than a purple patch, beating Lloyd Harris 6-3, 6-2 to win his latest event as an underdog.
That gave Karatsev his first tour title at the age of 27 and ensured that the last seven non-Grand Slam ATP tournaments have been won by a Russian, after ATP Tour Finals champion Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev swept the last six.
Top-10 players Medvedev and Rublev had already won tournaments this year, but Karatsev’s immense success is astonishing given that he was ranked outside of the top 250 players in the world as recently as last August.
The incredible season of Aslan Karatsev continues.The 27yo Russian beats Lloyd Harris 6-3, 6-2 to win his first career title at the Dubai 500 and will enter the top 30.Karatsev is now 15-2 in 2021 (including qualies), 15-0 against players ranked outside the top 4. pic.twitter.com/N4Mq4N0csd
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) March 20, 2021
Karatsev’s rankingAugust 23rd — #253August 24th — #194August 31st — #140September 14th — #116February 8th — #114February 22nd — #42March 22nd — #27
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) March 20, 2021
“Karatsev is a mature top tennis player,” Russian Tennis Federation boss Shamil Tarpischev told Championat, reflecting on a further boost for the newly-crowned champion that will elevate him several places from his rank of 42 at the start of the tournament.
“He is already in the top 30, and by the end of the year he may be in the top 20 with such a game. This is work. This year he will continue to be on the rise.”
Tarpischev said that Karatsev could be compared with Marat Safin, the Russian two-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one.
“It was a difficult match,” said Karatsev, who saved a number of break points and hit 27 winners.
The last *seven* ATP 500/Masters 1000/ATP Finals events have been won by one of these three guys2020 Hamburg: Rublev 🇷🇺2020 St. Petersburg: Rublev 🇷🇺2020 Vienna: Rublev 🇷🇺2020 Bercy: Medvedev 🇷🇺2020 ATP Finals: Medvedev 🇷🇺2021 Rotterdam: Rublev 🇷🇺2021 Dubai: Karatsev 🇷🇺 pic.twitter.com/sSxgIwV5O6
— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) March 20, 2021
“I was very nervous. You never know when success will come. I did a good job with my team, with my coach, and it has happened now.
“I’m very happy with my game. At the beginning of the year, I was pleased with how I performed in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, showing a high level.
“After the Australian Open, I continued to train hard. I came here with more faith than the Doha [Australian Open qualifying] tournament. I spent a fantastic week here and played good tennis.”
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