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Aslan Karatsev is the dark horse of the Australian Open

By Yaseen Hijazi

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 14: Aslan Karatsev of Russia celebrates after winning a point in his Men's Singles fourth round match against Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada during day seven of the 2021 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on February 14, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 14: Aslan Karatsev of Russia celebrates after winning a point in his Men's Singles fourth round match against Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada during day seven of the 2021 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on February 14, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images) /
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Ranked at 114 in the ATP, the name Aslan Karatsev is not known by many. Now, the 27-year-old Russian is taking the Australian Open 2021 by storm.

Residing from the heart of Russia, Aslan Karatsev has arrived from Moscow to make his mark at the very first Grand Slam tournament of his career at Melbourne Park. He is currently the lowest-ranked player in the Australian Open 2021 to make the quarter-finals, following his epic comeback win against 20th seed Felix Auger Aliassime in the fourth round.

Qualifying Rounds

Prior to the start of the main draw, Aslan Karatsev absolutely dominated in the qualifyers, only dropping one set in a tie-breaker, and securing 3 match wins, winning all other sets either 6-2 or 6-1. His on-court performance was nothing short of phenomenal, with crisp, precise shot-making backed by a ton of power behind his groundstrokes, the Russian showed major improvements to his game and brought with him an arsenal of weapons to wipe his opponents off the court during the qualifying rounds.

Australian Open Debut

Qualifying for a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, Aslan Karatsev entered the Australian Open 2021 with a wall of confidence following 2 straight-set wins in a row at the qualifiers. Matched against Gianluca Mager in his first round, he showed no signs of a diminishing performance, remaining composed and in control of the match and his emotions, as he secured yet another win in straight sets 6-3 6-3 6-4.

Following his debut Grand Slam match, the 27-year-old was matched against Egor Gerasimov, who, like his first round opponent, was ranked higher than him. This time, Karatsev delivered an even more brutal performance, winning in straight sets for his fourth match in a row and securing 2 bagel sets for a devastating scoreline of 6-0 6-1 6-0.

Aslan Karatsev vs Diego Schwartzman

The third round match was the moment everything changed for Aslan Karatsev, where he got his first real taste of a top-tier Grand Slam opponent: 8th-seed Diego Schwartzman. In what was expected to be a close match between the up-and-coming Russian and the well-established Schwartzman, Aslan Karatsev stunned the tennis world again by defeating the Argentenian with a shocking straight set win of 6-3 6-3 6-3.

Aslan and Shwartzman shake hands following the Russian’s straight-sets win.
Aslan and Shwartzman shake hands following the Russian’s straight-sets win. /

With an amazing performance full of pinpoint shot-making and a staggering 9 aces to none, Aslan Karatsev gave us a stone-cold reminder that he is indeed a force to be reckoned with, and one of the greatest dark horses Grand Slam tennis has ever witnessed. Yet to drop a set in the tournament, the world number 114 had upset a top 10 player for the first time in his career, in the form of world number 9 Diego Schwartzman, and advanced to the fourth round, becoming just the 5th qualifier in 21 years to make it this far in a Grand Slam.

Aslan Karatsev vs Felix Auger Aliassime

Following a stunning performance against the Argentenian Diego Schwartzman, Aslan Karatsev finally met his match against Canada’s rising star and 20th seed, Felix Auger Aliassime. Like Karatsev, the Canadian had also not dropped a set leading up to their bout, and he wasted no time drawing first blood on the Russian to steal his first set of the Australian Open.

Things started to take a turn for the worst for Karatsev, as the onslaught continued when Auger Aliassime took the second set too, securing a lead of 6-3 6-1, in what looked like a hopeless situation for the Grand Slam first-timer. Aslan Karatsev would then enter the third set with a newfound focus similar to what we saw with his match against Schwartzman, where he showed greater vigor in his service games and more control of the rallies.

Aslan and Felix shake hands after a 5-set match in the fourth-round.
Aslan and Felix shake hands after a 5-set match in the fourth-round. /

From what appeared to be a hopeless situation, Aslan Karatsev turned everything around with his refreshed compsure and increased drive in the third set, holding his serves and winning abreakpoint to secure the set 6-3. Continuing on this path, the Russian left his opponent with no answers as he kept the standard high throughout the remainder of the match, stealing the fourth and fifth sets and the spotlight, with a shock comeback win of 3-6 1-6 6-3 6-3 6-4, as he heads into the quarter final against Grigor Dimitrov.

So, where to from here?

There is only one way from here for Aslan Karatsev, and that is forward. His win over Felix in the fourth round makes him the first player in 25 years to reach a quarter final on their debut Grand Slam tournament. In addition to this, Karatsev also became the lowest-ranked man to reach an Australian Open quarter-final in 30 years, the other being Patrick McEnroe, who coincidentally was also ranked 114 back in the 1991 AO.

Next. The Next Tennis Great Has Arrived: Carlos Alcaraz. dark

Moving forward, Grigor Dimitrov has just come out of a major upset of his own, where he obliterated world number 3 and a tournament favourite Dominic Thiem in straight sets. With the confidence of a 6-4 6-4 6-0 win over a top player under his belt, the road ahead will be tough for Aslan Karatsev, who will be looking to continue his unbelievable streak of upsets in the quarter-final round at the Australian Open 2021.

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