"You never know when success will come": how Karatsev won the first ATP tournament in his career

Aslan Karatsev has strengthened his status as one of the main discoveries of the current tennis season.

During the tournament in Dubai, the 42nd racket of the world defeated four rivals occupying a higher place in the ATP rankings, and in the final dealt with the talented South African Lloyd Harris.

For the first time in his career, the Russian won a competition under the auspices of the Association of Professional Tennis Players and guaranteed himself a top 30.

Success at the Australian Open made Karatsev a welcome guest at the world's largest championships.

He first got a wild card for the ATP 250 in Doha, but was unable to advance beyond the second round there.

True, he had a more than good reason for this in the form of the fourth racket in the world.

Aslan fiercely resisted Dominik Tim - he won the first set and delivered one of the most spectacular strikes of the month.

But it was not enough for more.

However, this did not prevent him from receiving an invitation to an even more prestigious competition - the ATP 500 in Dubai.

Despite the fact that they were more status-conscious, the Russian was much more fortunate with the net.

Until the semifinals, he did not get a single tennis player from the top 10, and only the experienced Briton Daniel Evans could boast of a place in the top 30.

True, this does not mean that Karatsev did not have to play with bright and well-known opponents.

After victories over Yegor Gerasimov and the aforementioned Evans, the Russian met in turn two representatives of Italy - Lorenzo Sonego and Yannick Sinner.

Both ranked in the top ten, but they were certainly not whipping boys.

The first not so long ago beat Novak Djokovic in Vienna, and the second, by the age of 19, could boast two titles at the senior level.

As a result, both confrontations were almost the same.

Karatsev invariably lost the first set, but after that he significantly added and took over.

Not to say that the Russian looked utterly stronger than his counterpart, but at key moments he turned out to be more successful.

At the same time, he was especially impressed by his aggressive play at the reception, which became the hallmark of the domestic athlete.

Nevertheless, on the eve of the semifinals, Karatsev was hardly considered the favorite.

He was opposed by Andrei Rublev, who not only occupied the eighth line in the ranking, but was also in brilliant form.

In 2021, he had already won the tournament in Rotterdam, during which he dealt with Andy Murray and Stefanos Tsitsipas, and lost only two meetings out of 20.

And both times he lost to world tennis stars - Daniil Medvedev and Roberto Bautista Agut.

Like the three previous matches with the participation of the 27-year-old Russian, this one lasted all three games.

This time, the first was taken by Karatsev himself, but in the second Rublev restored the balance.

True, he failed to build on his success, and the reason for this was again the impressive play of his opponent at the reception.

Aslan earned four times as many break points (16: 4) and converted four of them.

Thus, he interrupted Andrey's unbeaten streak of 23 meetings at the ATP 500 tournaments.

At the same time, Karatsev not only spoiled his compatriot's track record, but also inscribed his own name in history.

So, he became the first owner of a wild card in the 21st century, making his way to the finals of the Dubai Championship.

Up to this point, Thomas Muster had done something similar in 1997.

Unlike Karatsev, the organizers did not provide a special invitation to Harris, who had to make his way to the main draw through the qualification.

As a result, at the time of the meeting with the Russian, he had seven victories in seven days, and among the "victims" were Kei Nishikori, Denis Shapovalov and Dominik Tim.

The titled Austrian was powerless in the confrontation with the South African and was content with only seven games won.

However, in the final, Harris was unable to resist Karatsev.

And this despite the fact that he consistently hit the first ball (75%) and chalked up eight aces.

As soon as the South African did not get into the square, the Russian punished him for this oversight.

For the entire match, Aslan won 83% of the points on the opponent's second serve, which largely predetermined the outcome of the confrontation.

By and large, the fight did not work in any of the parties.

In both, Karatsev immediately took the opponent's serve, after which he no longer allowed him to recoup.

As in the match with Rublev, the difference in the number of break points earned was enormous.

The Russian had eight of them (three realized), while the South African had only two.

But, unlike his counterpart, Harris never managed to bring the matter to an end.

As a result, it took Karatsev only 77 minutes to win in two sets - 6: 3, 6: 2.

The Russian won the first ATP title in his career, and next week he will take 27th place in the ranking.

At the same time, in the race of the Association, he will be located on the fifth line and will be second only to Djokovic, Medvedev, Rublev and Tsitsipas.

“I'm incredibly happy.

It was a tough match.

I was very nervous.

I would like to congratulate my opponent on reaching the final.

He had a great week ... I'm happy I won ... You never know when success will come.

I did a good job with my team, with the coach, and this happened, ”the ATP press service quotes Karatsev.