Failure in the final after a major career victory: Karatsev beat Djokovic, but was left without a trophy at a tournament in Belgrade

Aslan Karatsev continues to be one of the main newsmakers of 2021 in the world of tennis and delight his fans with new successes. Once again, the Russian made him talk about himself during the ATP 250 series tournament in Serbia, in which he not only reached the final, but also added another victory over a top 10 representative to his track record. True, this time it was not an athlete from the second five who became him, but the leader of the rating and the favorite of the local public, Novak Djokovic.

In Belgrade, Karatsev was seeded third, so he started his performance not from the first, but from the second round. However, this did not contribute to facilitating his path to the finale. In the first match, he experienced serious resistance from the experienced Alyaz Bedene and was forced to spend 2 hours and 36 minutes on the court. The Russian won the first set, and during the second he had five break points, but managed to realize only one of them. In turn, the Slovene was much more productive (two out of four), which allowed him to level the score. The final game turned out to be extremely tense, and when the score was 5: 6, Aslan was one step away from defeat, but at first he bounced back, and then hit the uncompromising opponent in a tie-break - 6: 3, 4: 6, 7: 6 (7: 5).

“It was so cold that the ball didn’t fly (as it should. -

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), so we had to play long rallies. He (Bedene) played well and served well. In the end, luck smiled a little on me, the difference was one or two points. I was lucky that I coped with this match and won, ”Karatsev admitted.

Against this background, the meeting with Gianluca Mager in the quarterfinals was a warm-up before the next round of the competition. The 98th racket of the world, although he lost a little (6: 3, 6: 4), was still noticeably weaker than one of the most progressive tennis players of the year. Although the Italian served a little more stable, he allowed the Russian much more at the reception, as evidenced by the difference in the break points earned (7: 1). Moreover, if Karatsev managed to realize four at once, then his opponent - none. Thus, Aslan managed to save his strength and in full combat readiness to approach one of the key games of the tournament - the semifinals with Djokovic.

It is worth recalling that it was the Serb who stopped the phenomenal breakthrough of the Russian at the Australian Open. Then the athletes also came together in the semifinals, where the difference in class was noticeable to the naked eye. Djokovic surpassed Karatsev in all key aspects and did not feel serious resistance in any of the sets, losing only nine games in total. But that meeting took place on Novak's favorite hard, but on the ground his superiority promised not to be overwhelming.

Subsequently, this was confirmed on the court. The tennis players fought each other for 3 hours and 25 minutes, simultaneously setting the record for the longest match in the ATP tournaments this season. At the same time, at the receptions, both did something incredible at all. For two, the athletes earned 44 break points - 28 of them were for the Serb, and the remaining 16 for the Russians. As a result, it was the ability to keep a cool head in key episodes that played a decisive role. Karatsev managed to realize six attempts, Djokovic limited himself to five. Moreover, in the third set, Novak had ten chances to take Aslan's serve, but he never took advantage of any of them.

“It was a very long and tough match against a tough opponent.

He is like a wall, you need to give 200 percent to defeat him. In addition, he made a number of great strikes.

You just can't earn points on it.

He always makes you play, and you need to be completely focused on the game, because if you miss a couple of times, he will immediately take advantage of it.

Actually, this is how I lost the second set, "admitted Karatsev.

Also, the Russian tennis player agreed that the victory in the ATP 250 semifinals in Serbia is the largest in his career and admitted that he left all his strength on the court.

“The match was long.

I am very pleased with the game I showed today, ”added Karatsev.

However, more than three hours of a fierce duel with Djokovic is not the best way to prepare for a trophy match. A week ago, Andrei Rublev found himself in a similar position, on the way to the final he was forced to spend an exhausting three-set player with Rafael Nadal. But then he fell into the quarterfinals, as a result of which the Russian had a little time to catch his breath. Karatsev was deprived of such a privilege and had about a day to recover - about the same as his rival Matteo Berrettini.

The path of the tenth racket of the world to the final also began from the second round, but it turned out to be much less difficult. Compatriot Marco Ceckinato and Serb Filip Krajinovic were defeated in two games, and three had to be played with only the main sensation of the championship. Japanese Taro Daniel got the right to play at the tournament as a lucky loser and did not disappoint. On the way to the semifinals, he dealt with John Millman and Federico Delbonis, and fought to the last in the semifinals, but he was only enough for two sets. In the final, he failed to take a game, which clearly helped Berrettini.

Perhaps the difference in condition was one of the factors of Karatsev's not very successful performance in the confrontation with Berrettini. In the course of the first set, the impression was created that the Italian is in the best physical condition and is even able to add. He served the first ball with enviable consistency (67%), performed nine aces and did not give his opponent a chance to catch on. The Russian managed to take more than two rallies in a game on someone else's serve only twice, while he himself made two breaks at once.

In the second installment, the state of affairs has changed markedly.

Berrettini began to hit the first ball less often, and Karatsev, on the contrary, came to his senses.

He became noticeably sharper on the reception, which allowed him to make a break in the very first game on the serve.

Yes, later he gave the Italian two chances to restore parity at once, but in both cases he won back and brought the matter to the decisive game.

In the final set, the fight mainly took place on Karatsev's serve.

Berretini looked fresher, was more confident both at the serve and at the reception, but could not take advantage of all the opportunities.

Of the three break points, he realized only one, while Aslan used his only chance.

The key game turned out to be 5: 6 on Karatsev's serve.

In the course of it, the Russian managed to play a match-ball and only from the fourth attempt managed to tip the scales in his favor.

Apparently, he simply had no strength left for a tie-break.

Aslan lost it dry and could not win the first victory in the ATP 250 tournament in his career.

At the end of the meeting, Berrettini paid tribute to Karatsev and admitted that he respects the Russian very much, and the President of the Russian Tennis Federation (RTR) Shamil Tarpishchev said that Aslan deserves praise for his performance in Belgrade.

“Berrettini's victory was expected. But we must not pay attention to her, but praise Aslan - he is an accomplished player on clay, here he already represents the elite of world tennis. Karatsev was a little underreported after a splendid game against Djokovic, no big deal. Ahead are more important goals in the season, "TASS quotes Tarpishchev.