One of the biggest stories in men’s tennis at the moment has been the progression of rising Russian tennis star Aslan Karatsev of Moscow. Last month he was the talk of the tennis world after reaching the semifinals as an unseeded qualifier. Then on Saturday, Karatsev won his first ATP event by beating Lloyd Harris of South Africa 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championship.
In Dubai, Karatsev beat four tournament seeded players to win the 500-point event. After beating Egor Gerasimov of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-4 in the first round, Karatsev beat 12th-ranked Daniel Evans of Great Britain 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the second round, 17th-ranked Lorenzo Sonego of Italy 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the third round, 16th-ranked Italian sensation Jannik Sinner of Italy, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, and second-ranked Andrey Rublev of Russia, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the semifinals.
So far in 2021, Karatsev has been the breakout player on the ATP Tour. He has a record of 12 wins and two losses, with his only defeats coming to Novak Djokovic of Serbia (the first-ranked player in the world) in the semifinals of the Australian Open, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, and to Dominic Thiem of Austria (the fourth-ranked player in the world) in the second round of the Qatar Open, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2.
Where Karatsev has been most impressive is his overall power. He is literally beating his opponent with convincing winners on a regular basis.
Karatsev was one of two ATP players to win at the 500 level this past weekend. The other was Alexander Zverev of Germany, who beat Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, 6-4, 7-6 in the 2021 Mexican Open in Acapulco. It was Zverev’s 14th career title.
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