Australian Open, qualifier, Russia: Everything you ever wanted to know about Aslan Karatsev (but never had time to find out) – updated after 2023 Tokyo final)
Aslan Karatsev became the biggest story of the 2021 Australian Open when he reached the semi-finals on his Grand Slam debut. Learn more about the Russian
Aslan Karatsev 2021 Australian Open
Who is Aslan Karatsev?
Aslan Karatsev is a Russian tennis player, with a career-high ATP ranking of No 14.
What did Karatsev achieve at the 2023 Japan Open?
The Russian reached the final of the Japan Open in Tokyo in October 2023. Karatsev defeated Japanese wild card Shintaro Mochizuki in straight sets before going down to young American Ben Shelton in the title match. This was the second final at the ATP 500 level, after Dubai in 2021, for the Russian.
What did Aslan Karatsev do at the 2021 Australian Open?
Karatsev reached the semi-finals of the 2021 Australian Open, where he became the first ATP player in history to reach the semi-finals on his Grand Slam main draw debut. His incredible run, from qualifying through to the last four, was eventually ended by Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
What else made Karatsev’s run at the 2021 Australian Open special?
Karatsev was a qualifier, and he became the first ATP qualifier to reach the semi-finals at a Grand Slam since 2000. He beat Diego Schwartzman, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Grigor Dimitrov to reach the last four. As a result, his ranking rose from No 114 to inside the world’s top 50.
How much money did Karatsev earn at the Australian Open in 2021?
For reaching the semi-finals, Karatsev will be paid $850k Australian dollars, which amounts to approximately $663,000 dollars. Previously for his whole career, Karatsev had earned just over $618,000 dollars.
How many wins did Karatsev have before he played the 2021 Australian Open?
Karatsev entered the 2021 Australian Open with a 3-10 career record at the ATP level. The Russian had attempted to qualify at the Grand Slams nine other times, beginning at Wimbledon in 2014, but each time he failed. On 21 October 2020, Karatsev earned the first ATP World Tour win of his career as a qualifier at Moscow, defeating countryman and former world No 8 Mikhail Youzhny.
What did Karatsev achieve at Roland-Garros in 2023?
Karatasev came through the qualifying draw at the French Open to book his spot in the main draw. The Russian was outside direct entry cut-off but due to his great run in Madrid, he was up to No 62 in the rankings and the top seed in qualifying.
Karatsev defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Nick Hardt and Nicolas Moreno De Alboran – all in straight sets – to secure his main draw berth and then beat Alexei Popyrin, ranked No 82 in the world, in the first round. His run came to an end in the second after he went down to 12th seed Frances Tiafoe in four sets.
How many career ATP titles has Aslan Karatsev won?
Three. Aslan Karatsev won his first ATP title in Dubai in March 2021, when he beat Andrey Rublev in the semi-finals and then took out South Africa’s Lloyd Harris in the final. The victory lifted him to a career-high ranking of No 27, having been ranked outside the top 250 a year before.
He followed up by winning a second on home soil in Moscow in 2021 and then won his third, and most recent title in Sydney in 2023.
When was Aslan Karatsev born?
Aslan Karatsev was born on September 4, 1993, in Vladikavkaz, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains, more than 1,000 km to the south of Moscow, Russia. He moved to Israel when he was three, then back to Russia at 12. He talked about it at length in a press conference in Melbourne, when reporters struggling to get to grips with his run streak asked him to enlighten them about his background.
What is Karatsev’s highest ranking?
The Russian’s highest ranking has been No 14, which he achieved in February 2022. You can find his latest ranking and ranking history on his ATP Tour profile page.
What is Aslan Karatsev’s nationality?
Karatsev is Russian. He defended his country’s colours at the University Games, the Universiade, in Gwangju (South Korea), in 2015. He won the silver medal in singles, losing to Hyeong Chung, and he earned a bronze medal in mixed doubles with Veronika Kudermetova. In 2017, in Taipei (Taiwan), he won gold in men’s doubles with Richard Muzaev.
Karatsev also represented Russia in the Davis Cup once, against the Netherlands in 2016. He lost to Matwe Middelkoop. Most recently, he won the 2021 ATP Cup with Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev’s Russia. “I learned a lot from being around Daniil and Andrey. I watched them, I saw how they played, how they behaved. It helped me a lot, “said Karatsev, who played and lost three dead doubles rubbers, two with Evgeny Donskoy and one with Andrey Rublev.
How much prize money has Karatsev won in his career?
As of October 2021, the Russian has earned $4,447,111in career prize money. You can find his latest prize money stats on his ATP profile page.
Who is Aslan Karatsev’s coach?
According to the ATP website, Karatsev is currently without a coach. Yahor Yatsyk, a Belarusian ranked 682nd in the world in doubles in 2013, had been his coach until recently. Prior to that, he worked for more than two years, until the end of 2020, with Alberto Lopez, who had coached Garbiñe Muguruza for more than five years.
When did he start his professional career?
Karatsev made his debut matches in 2009 in Futures, before starting to progress in 2012. In 2015, he claimed his first victory on the ATP Tour against former world No 8 Mikhail Youzhny, who was then ranked 150th. It took him five years to win again on the main circuit, against Tennys Sandgren in St. Petersburg and then against Taro Daniel in Sofia in 2020.
What are some of his other career highlights?
Aslan Karatsev has three ATP Challenger titles, two of which came in 2020. He won his first Challenger in Kazan in 2015, then won two last year at Prague and Ostrava in 2020, which made him one of the most successful players on the secondary circuit when he resumed the post-containment circuit in July 2020. He has also won 10 titles in Futures.
In May 2023, he became the first qualifier to reach the semi-finals of the Madrid Open on clay.
What are his hobbies?
On Instagram, we get a little glimpse of Aslan Karatsev’s hobbies: snowboarding like in 2015, but he’s clearly a dog lover, if the dogs he’s pictured with are any indication.
Is Karatsev on social media?
Yes, the Russian has an Instagram account which has more than 60,800 followers. He also posts on X (formerly Twitter), though less frequently and is followed by more than 7,300 people.
