Aslan Karatsev delivers gigantic third round upset at Australian Open
February 13, 2021
Heading into the first grand slam of the 2021 tennis season, I can absolutely guarantee not many people would have heard of 27-year-old Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev of Moscow, who entered the Australian Open ranked 114th in the world. Well, after Friday’s stunning performance, many more people have.
Karatsev is now off to the fourth round, after a shocking straight-sets win over the eighth seed, Diego Schwartzman of Argentina. Karatsev came through in a big way, as he defeated the 5’7″ clay-court specialist 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
A major reason for Karatsev’s success was his serve. He had nine aces, compared to Schwartzman’s zero.
Karatsev also made the most of his break-point opportunities. He only had six break point chances, but capitalized on five of them. Schwartzman had 11 breakpoint chances but only broke Karatsev’s serve only once.
Of the 24 players left in the draw, four are Russian. The fact that the tournament still has the fourth-ranked and ATP World Tour Finals champion Daniil Medvedev, the seventh-ranked Andrey Rublev, and the 19th-ranked Karen Khachanov, should be of zero surprise. No one expected them to be joined by Karatsev, who had to go through qualification, and had never won a grand slam match before his three wins this week in Melbourne.
A gold medalist in men’s doubles from the 2017 Summer Universiade, Karatsev is one of two players left in the men’s draw who are ranked outside the top 100. The other is American Mackenzie McDonald, who is ranked 192nd in the world. Karatsev’s next opponent in the fourth round is Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime. McDonald meanwhile will play Lloyd Harris of South Africa in the third round.
Fill In The Form Below To Receive Our Tennis News Straight To Your Email For FREE!
May 14, 2024
Alejandro Tabilo upsets Novak Djokovic at 2024 Italian Open
It was quite the eventful weekend for world number one Novak Djokovic of Belgrade, Serbia at the 2024 Italian Open First, after a routine 6-3, 6-1 win over Corentin Moutet of France on Friday in the Read MoreMay 9, 2024
WTA star Garbine Muguruza retires at age 30
According to Dzevad Mesic of Tennis World on Monday, two-time grand slam singles champion Garbine Muguruza of Barcelona, Spain has retired at the age of 30 Muguruza won the 2016 French Open and 2017 Read MoreMay 7, 2024