Comparison with the story of Cinderella and the delight of ex-champions: what do they think of the sensational rise of Karatsev at the Australian Open

Aslan Karatsev can be considered the main hero of the current Australian Open.

The Russian tennis player, who had never been in the top 100 of the world rankings before, made history by being the first to reach the semi-finals of the Grand Slam tournament through qualification.

It was a real shock for the tennis world.

The first to express his admiration for the game of the native of Vladikavkaz was Grigor Dimitrov, who lost to him in the quarterfinals.

The Bulgarian tennis player noted that Karatsev made a worthy journey and demonstrated how confident he is in himself.

“He needs to realize this result, he must appreciate it.

Aslan is a great player.

If you've made it to this round, then obviously you did something right.

You did a good job, went through qualifications, through tough good matches and gained confidence, ”said Dimitrov after the defeat.

The next opponent of Karatsev will be the first racket of the world Novak Djokovic, who won a strong-willed victory over Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals.

The Serb is sure that he will face a difficult match with an extremely motivated opponent.

“I haven't seen him play before.

I only saw it here in Melbourne.

Aslan is good, physically a very strong guy, great moves, shows power on the back line and has an amazing backhand.

All Russians have a good backhand.

He will be motivated.

Today Karatsev defeated Dimitrov.

Yes, Grigor was not lucky, he was injured, but Aslan still played great.

I hope that the spectators will return to the semifinals and injuries will no longer affect the matches.

Aslan is in great shape, that's for sure.

It will be difficult for me, "Sport-Express quotes Djokovic with reference to Eurosport.

Former fourth racket of the world Tim Henman, now an expert on television, was also impressed by Karatsev's achievement.

He drew attention to the fact that the Russian was lucky with the injury of an opponent, but this does not detract from how the tennis player who missed the stars from the sky coped with other difficulties that arose in his way.

“This is an amazing story.

You think about the qualification that took place in another arena in Doha, and now he is ready for the first round.

He just played amazing tennis and dealt with some of the tricky things: nerves and heat outside.

Obviously, Karatsev was a little lucky with the fact that Dimitrov was injured, but as a person he seems very calm and wants to continue, "Henmen told Eurosport.

Renowned tennis journalist Ben Rotenberg is confident that if Karatsev wins the title in Melbourne, it will be the most incredible event ever in tennis.

“Aslan Karatsev reached the semifinals in his first Grand Slam tournament, beating the injured Grigor Dimitrov.

Two more victories - and he will become the brightest "Cinderella" in the history of tennis ", - wrote Rotenberg on Twitter.

After Karatsev reached the semi-finals of AusOpen, the football club "Alania" made an unexpected offer.

In his Twitter, he demanded that Dimitrov Street in Vladikavkaz be renamed in honor of the tennis player - it is so named after the Bulgarian revolutionary Georgiy Dimitrov, the namesake of the ex-third racket of the world.

But Aslan himself believes that this is too much.

We demand from @ams_vladikavkaz to rename Dimitrov Street to Karatsev Avenue!

pic.twitter.com/47p5hKvVdu

- FC Alania (@fc_alania) February 16, 2021

President of the Russian Tennis Federation Shamil Tarpishchev believes that Dimitrov could have beat Karatsev with an injury, but the Russian did not allow him.

He especially highlighted in the game of the 114th racket of the world how he brings his victorious matches to the end.

“Aslan is a real king!

I endured psychologically, managed to recoup in the second set, this was a key moment.

It is noteworthy that Karatsev brought the matter to the end, because Dimitrov was extreme in life, it was impossible to relax with him.

From the standpoint of mobilizing the nervous system, the ending was very difficult, we have already seen how Daniil Medvedev relaxed at one moment, everyone is now in a fever in this regard.

The fact that Aslan finished exactly is a pure feat, ”Tarpischev told Sport24.

According to the functionary, now Karatsev needs to concentrate on the next match and abstract from the hype around him.

As for the physical condition of the player, Tarpishchev is not worried about it.

“I would like to note his physical condition and nervous system, because in this situation very few people would have been able to withstand everything that has fallen on him in the last two weeks.

As for the readiness for the semifinals, then he needs to recover.

Not even physically, but psychologically.

Now everyone will walk, knock on the shoulders, congratulate.

We must be able to get away from this, because it often erodes and relaxes, ”added Tarpischev.

1999 Australian Open winner Evgeny Kafelnikov was deeply impressed by Karatsev's achievement.

In his opinion, the athlete has achieved more than he himself could have desired before the start of the tournament.

“The result of Karatsev can be called phenomenal.

In terms of the meeting itself, the beginning was rather depressing.

It could have ended disastrously, had Aslan not shown willpower.

Especially at the beginning of the second set, when everything was not very good for him.

But Karatsev is a fighter, well done!

He survived this difficult period in the match and turned the tide.

All the prospects that Aslan had, he has already realized even more than, probably, he himself imagined.

Now there is no need to talk about any prospects when Karatsev is in the semifinals of the Australian Open, ”Metaratings quotes Kafelnikov.

Two-time Davis Cup finalist Andrei Olkhovsky is already waiting for Karatsev to perform at other tournaments, where he will have to confirm the non-coincidence of his current success.

In his opinion, the Russians will now be treated with apprehension.

“I believe that psychological confidence helped Karatsev a lot.

This is one of the components that must be present at this level.

Aslan overcame himself, his excitement and showed a stable, solid and impressive game.

In my opinion, at this tournament Aslan has already completed the maximum task for himself, because no one expected him to reach the semifinals at all.

Now he just has to go to the next match and play for fun.

From the next tournament, everyone will tune in to Karatsev.

Now this is not the same tennis player that he was before the Australian Open, ”said the former athlete.