MELBOURNE, Australia – Aslan Karatsev never made it to the main draw at a Grand Slam tournament. Now he just refuses to leave the Australian Open.
Karatsev, a 27-year-old Russian qualifier who is 114th, became the first man in the professional era to reach the semi-finals of his first major tennis tournament, beating 18th seeded Grigor Dimitrov 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 , 6-2 on Tuesday.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” said Karatsev. ‘It’s the first time, of course. First time in main draw, first time in semifinal. It’s unbelievable. ”
That’s a pretty good word for what he managed to do. Karatsev failed in nine previous attempts to advance through qualifying rounds to play at a Grand Slam tournament.
Now he is making the most of it, passing Dimitrov – a three-time major semi-finalist – after also eliminating two other seeded players, No. 8 Diego Schwartzman and No. 20 Felix Auger-Aliassime.
“It’s great to see. I love to see,” Dimitrov said of Karatsev’s success. “Surprised? No.”
Troubled by backspams that developed on Monday, Dimitrov was not at his best. He finished the game barely able to serve – and barely able to walk up the stairs as he exited the Rod Laver Arena.
Dimitrov jumped out to an early lead with three service breaks in the first set. He then had seven break points in Karatsev’s first two service games in the second set, but was unable to convert any of them.
Then Karatsev began to believe he could extend his already remarkable run even further.
“In the beginning it was very difficult to control my nerves,” said Karatsev. “It was difficult. I tried to play in the second set, to find a way to play.”
Dimitrov stopped chasing shots in the third set, then was visited by a trainer and took a medical time-out for treatment of a muscle problem around his lower back.
He hadn’t dropped a set in his first four games at the Australian Open, but said he struggled to put on his socks for the match.
“It started yesterday,” said Dimitrov, “out of the blue.”
Karatsev is the lowest placed man to reach the Australian Open semifinals since Patrick McEnroe – John’s brother – was also No. 114 in 1991 – and the lowest placed man to reach the semifinals in a Slam since Goran Ivanisevic’s No. 125 at Wimbledon Championships 2001.
Karatsev will then play against eight-time champion Novak Djokovic or Alexander Zverev. Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev will meet in a quarter final on the other half of Wednesday’s draw, meaning there are two Russians in the semi-finals in Melbourne Park.
When asked about his opinion on the possibility of an all-Russian final, Karatsev stuck to what he knows.
“I’m trying not to think about it,” he said, adding that he’s just “going from match to match. ”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.