At the age of 27 Aslan Karatsev is undoubtedly playing the best tennis of his life and has been making waves on the ATP Tour in recent months.
A year ago the Russian was ranked 253rd in the world and had never even featured in a Grand Slam main draw. Then at the Australian Open he achieved his breakthrough by reaching the semi-finals as a qualifier. Becoming the first man in the Open Era to reach the last four of the Melbourne major on his debut and only the second qualifier in history. Karatsev’s run wasn’t just a one-off with him going on to win his maiden ATP title at the Dubai Tennis Championships in March.
The latest milestone in his career occurred at the Serbian Open where he stunned world No.1 Novak Djokovic in a three-set marathon to reach the final. The same player who he lost to at the Australian Open. Unfortunately for Karatsev he was unable to lift the trophy in Belgrade after losing to Matteo Berrettini in the final.
Some have questioned how the tennis player has managed to surge to the limelight so quickly. Although Karatsev explains that his breakthrough has been a work in progress which has previously been hindered by injury.
“It’s not just happening right now, there is [a lot of] work that was done before [to get here],” he told reporters from Belgrade.
“I had some injuries before and some troubles, and now we’re doing a good job with my coach. It’s been two and a half years and it’s just paying off in 2021.”
Last year the world No.27 was already turning heads on the lower level Challenger Tour in which he reached four finals. Winning titles in the Czech cities of Ostrava and Pague on the clay. He believes that his hard work from the past is starting to pay off.
“It’s not like it’s coming all of a sudden from nowhere. It’s coming from the hard work every day, and it’s a long process. You have to be there every day and work hard,” he explains.
“It’s also a process, you have to work and be in practice every day and improve your game, mentally and physically. It’s not like it’s all arriving right now and that’s it.”
Now at a ranking high, Karatsev is nearing an entry into the world’s top 20. Something many tennis pundits would have expected this time last year. His win-loss for the season currently stands at 17-5.
