Karatsev Stops Sinner For Dubai Semi-final Spot
Aslan Karatsev continued his strong start to the season on Thursday by reaching his first ATP 500 level semi-final at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The Russian wild card hit 41 winners to earn a hard-fought 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 16 seed Jannik Sinner of Italy in two hours and 30 minutes. The 27-year-old is only the second wild card since 1998 to reach the Dubai semi-finals, following in the footsteps of Malek Jaziri three years ago.
[WATCH LIVE 1]“It was tough at the beginning as he is a really talented guy,” said Karatsev, who will next play second-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev or Marton Fucsovics of Hungary. “In the tie-break I was a little unlucky. I felt more comfortable in the second set and knew how to play against him.”
Last month, Karatsev became the first player in the Open Era to reach the semi-finals on his Grand Slam championship main draw debut at the Australian Open (l. to Djokovic). Having started the year at No. 112 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Karatsev could break into the Top 30 on Monday if he goes on to lift the Dubai crown.
Sinner took a 4-1 lead in the first set and did well to remain focused after Karatsev had recovered to 4-4. The 19-year-old Italian needed three set points and a strong tie-break performance to clinch the 61-minute opener.
In a reversal of fortunes in the second set, it was Karatsev who won the first three games and grew in confidence. After an early exchange of breaks in the decider, Karatsev won five straight games from 1-2 down.
World No. 32 Sinner, who captured his second ATP Tour title last month at the Great Ocean Road Open (d. Travaglia), is now 9-4 on the season.