Aslan Karatsev

Aslan Kazbekovich Karatsev (, ; born 4 September 1993) is a Russian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 14 on 7 February 2022, and peaked at No. 76 in the doubles rankings on 16 May 2022.

Karatsev had a career-best season in 2021. In February, he passed through qualifiers for the Australian Open. In his first main draw of a major, and ranked No. 114, he defeated 8th seed Diego Schwartzman, 20th seed Félix Auger-Aliassime and 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov to reach the semifinals: becoming the first man in the Open Era to reach the semifinals on his major debut. In March, he won his first ATP title at the Qatar Open in doubles, partnering Andrey Rublev. A week later, Karatsev won his first ATP singles title at the 2021 Dubai Open, entering the top 30 of the ATP singles rankings for the first time in his career. In April, Karatsev defeated the world No. 1 Novak Djokovic on his home court at the Serbia Open to reach the final. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, he won a silver medal in mixed doubles partnering Elena Vesnina. He finished the year as an alternate for the 2021 ATP Finals.

Early life

Karatsev was born in Vladikavkaz. His father Kazbek Karatsev is an ethnic Ossetian and former footballer, and his mother Svetlana Karatseva is a medical doctor. Aslan has an older sister named Zarina. Karatsev's grandfather on his mother's side is Jewish.

When Karatsev was three years old he and his parents moved to Israel, making ''aliyah'', and they lived in Israel for the next nine years. He started playing tennis there, in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. His first coach was Vladimir Rabinovich. His mother and sister live in Holon, Israel. Karatsev speaks fluent Hebrew, and says that Israel still feels like home.

When he was 12, he moved back to Russia, with his father, because of funding limitations in Israel. He moved to Taganrog where his new coaches were Alexandr Kuprin and Ivan Potapov. From 2011 to 2013 he was coached by Andrey Kesarev.

Karatsev fluently speaks Russian, Hebrew, and English, and holds dual Russian-Israeli citizenship.

Career

Junior career

Karatsev played his first junior match in September 2007 at the age of 14 at a grade 5 tournament in Russia. Although being his junior debut, it would be his only junior tournament until May 2009 where he started to play consistently in junior tennis. He made his junior grand slam debut at the 2011 Junior French Open after qualifying for the main draw but lost in the first round. He then participated in 2011 Junior Wimbledon with resulted in him again losing in the first round and then the 2011 Junior US Open where he won his first round match but lost in the second round. In doubles, he was known for partnering good friend Evgeny Karlovskiy in most tournaments and the pair made the quarterfinals of the 2011 Junior French Open. He ended his junior career after the 2011 US Open with a career-high ranking of No. 47 (attained on August 8, 2011) and a win–loss record of 76–48 in singles and 26–16 in doubles.

Junior Grand Slam results – Singles:

Australian Open: A (-)

French Open: 1R (2011)

Wimbledon: 1R (2011)

US Open: 2R (2011)

Junior Grand Slam results – Doubles:

Australian Open: A (-)

French Open: QF (2011)

Wimbledon: 1R (2011)

US Open: 2R (2011)

2013–20

Karatsev made his ATP Tour main-draw debut at the 2013 St. Petersburg Open, where he received entry to the main draw due to a wildcard. In the first round, he lost to compatriot and second seed Mikhail Youzhny. In the doubles event, he partnered Dmitry Tursunov and they reached the semifinals, losing to Dominic Inglot and Denis Istomin in a narrow deciding tiebreaker. In 2015, he won his first main-draw match on the ATP Tour at the Kremlin Cup, defeating Youzhny.

According to his father, Karatsev at 19 was mentored by Dmitry Tursunov who traveled with him to Halle, Germany to train there for a couple of months but returned due to a lack of money to continue. Then, the German academy itself invited Aslan to return to Halle. He trained there for two years, then got injured and could not really play for two years because of the trauma. He moved to Barcelona where he played at the Bruguera Tennis Academy for less than two years.

After searching for better coaching opportunities in Spain and Germany, Karatsev in 2019 hired his new coach, Yahor Yatsyk from Minsk. Yatsyk, a former professional tennis player one year his senior, used to help Nikoloz Basilashvili as a coach. During the COVID-19 lockdown Karatsev played exhibition matches in the United States.

At St. Petersburg, Karatsev earned his first top-50 win against Tennys Sandgren.

2021: Australian Open semifinalist, Olympic silver medal, top 15

Karatsev made his Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open, after coming through qualifying by beating Brandon Nakashima, Max Purcell and Alexandre Müller. It was here that he also notched his first top-10 victory, after upsetting 8th seed and world No. 9, Diego Schwartzman. He also upset 20th seed Félix Auger-Aliassime after dropping the first two sets and coming back to win in five to become the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal since Bernard Tomic at Wimbledon 2011, and the first man to reach a quarterfinal in his Grand Slam debut since Alex Rădulescu in 1996 Wimbledon. He then defeated the former No. 3 player Grigor Dimitrov in four sets to reach the semifinals.
By doing this, Karatsev became the first qualifier to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam since Vladimir Voltchkov in 2000 Wimbledon and the first to do so at the Australian Open since Bob Giltinan in 1977, the lowest-ranked player to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Goran Ivanišević in 2001 Wimbledon, and the first player to reach a Grand Slam semifinal on debut in the Open Era history. There, he lost to world No. 1 and eventual champion, Novak Djokovic, in straight sets. His run at the tournament raised his ranking from 114 to a career-high of world No. 42.

Karatsev's next tournament was Doha, where he beat Mubarak Shannan Zayid in straight sets in the first round, but lost to top seed Dominic Thiem in the second round after taking the first set in a tiebreak. He entered the doubles draw with compatriot Andrey Rublev and reached the semifinals, where they defeated Jérémy Chardy and Fabrice Martin. In the final, they defeated Marcus Daniell and Philipp Oswald in straight sets. Winning the tournament raised his doubles ranking from No. 447 to a career-high of No. 222. In Dubai, he beat Egor Gerasimov, Dan Evans and Lorenzo Sonego to reach his first ATP 500 quarterfinal, where he beat Jannik Sinner in three sets to advance to his first ATP 500 semifinal. In the semifinal, Karatsev ended the 23-match winning streak of second seed Andrey Rublev at ATP 500 events to reach his first singles final. In the final, he defeated Lloyd Harris to win his first title. The win allowed Karatsev to break into the top 30 for the first time in his career. He has become the second Russian tennis player to win his maiden title at 27, a record shared with Igor Kunitsyn.

Seeded 19th in Indian Wells he reached the fourth round on his Masters 1000 career debut defeating qualifier Salvatore Caruso and ninth seed Denis Shapovalov. At the 2021 Miami Open on his debut at this tournament he reached also the third round.

At the Serbia Open, Karatsev avenged his loss at the Australian Open by defeating world No. 1, Novak Djokovic, to advance to the final in the longest match of 2021 thus far. He was then defeated by Matteo Berrettini in three sets.

Karatsev notched two more top-ten wins, beating Schwartzman again in Madrid, and compatriot Daniil Medvedev in Rome.
At the French Open, Karatsev lost in men's singles to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second round. However, he partnered with Elena Vesnina in mixed doubles, and on his debut advanced to the final, but the pair lost to Joe Salisbury and Desirae Krawczyk.

At the Tokyo Olympics, he won the silver medal in mixed doubles with Elena Vesnina losing to compatriots Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final. He also participated in the singles and doubles events where he reached the second and lost in the first round, respectively.

In his debut at a Masters-1000 level in doubles, Karatsev reached the quarterfinals at the National Bank Open in Toronto partnering with Dušan Lajović. As a result, he entered the top 200 in doubles at world No. 172, on 16 August 2021. In singles seeded 15th and having a first round bye, he lost in the second round to Karen Khachanov.

At the 2021 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, he reached the fourth round at a Master 1000 for the first time in his career defeating 9th seed Denis Shapovalov before he lost to 8th seed Hubert Hurkacz. In doubles he reached the final with compatriot Rublev where they lost to Polasek/Peers. As a result, he reached the top 100 in the doubles rankings at World No. 92 on 18 October 2021.

At the 2021 Kremlin Cup in Moscow, Karatsev defeated compatriot Karen Khachanov in the semifinals to reach his third final of the season and in his career. He then defeated 6th seed Marin Čilić in the final to win his 2nd career title. With his successful run in Moscow, he made his debut in the top 20 in the rankings, rising to a ranking of World No. 19 on 25 October 2021.

On 8 November 2021, Karatsev peaked at world no. 15 and was named as the third alternate for the ATP Finals.

2022: Sydney title, Loss of form, match fixing allegations

Karatsev started his 2022 season at the Sydney Classic. As the top seed, he beat fifth seed and world No. 27, Lorenzo Sonego, in the quarterfinals. He then defeated third seed and world No. 26, Dan Evans, in the semifinals in a tight three-set match, to reach his fourth ATP singles final. He won his third ATP singles title by defeating Andy Murray in the final. Seeded 18th and last year semifinalist at the Australian Open, he lost in the third round to Adrian Mannarino in four sets.

After the Australian Open, Karatsev competed at the Maharashtra Open in Pune, India. As the top seed, he was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by qualifier Elias Ymer. Seeded seventh at the Rotterdam Open, he was beaten in the first round by Dutch wildcard Tallon Griekspoor, despite having two match points during the match. Seeded fourth at the Open 13, he reached the quarterfinals where he lost to ninth seed Benjamin Bonzi. Seeded seventh and the defending champion at the Dubai Championships, he was defeated in the first round by Mackenzie McDonald.

According to German TV ZDF, Karatsev, his coach Yahor Yatsyk and fellow tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili were under investigation for possible involvement in match fixing. Karatsev made a statement saying he was 'unaware' of the allegations.

2023: Maiden Masters semifinal, Second ATP 500 final, back to top 35

At the 2023 Mutua Madrid Open he reached as a qualifier the fourth round for the first time at this tournament and only for the second time overall at a Masters level, defeating Laslo Djere, 23rd seed Botic van de Zandschulp and 16th seed Alex de Minaur. He then defeated second seed Daniil Medvedev to reach his maiden Masters quarterfinal. Next he reached the semifinals defeating Zhang Zhizhen. He became only the second qualifier to advance to the last four in the tournament history. As a result he jumped back up close to 70 positions in the rankings to world No. 52.

At the 2023 Japan Open Tennis Championships he won his first round match with upset over previous year’s finalist sixth seed Frances Tiafoe. Next he reached the semifinals defeating again Zhang Zhizhen and fourth seed Alex de Minaur. As a result he returned to the top 40 on 23 October and the top 35 on 30 October 2023.

2024: Back to top 100, out of top 300

He recorded his first win on clay for the season at the 2024 Italian Open over Mackenzie McDonald.

Following also a first round win at the 2024 Atlanta Open over Billy Harris, before losing to Frances Tiafoe this time, he returned to the top 100 on 5 August 2024.

He failed to defend his runner-up points from the previous year's Japan Open, and suffered and early loss to Alexander Shevchenko in the second round of the Almaty Open, causing him to drop out of the top 300 for the first time since July 29, 2019, with a new ranking of 316.

Performance timelines

Singles

''Current through the 2023 Shanghai.''

Doubles

Significant finals

Grand Slam tournaments

Mixed doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Summer Olympics

Mixed doubles: 1 (silver medal)

Masters 1000 tournaments

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Other finals

Universiade

Singles: 1 (silver medal)

ATP Tour finals

Singles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

ATP Challenger Tour finals

Singles: 8 (3 titles, 5 runner-ups)

Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour finals

Singles: 13 (10 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Doubles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runner-ups)

National representation

Davis Cup (0–1)

* indicates the outcome of the Davis Cup match followed by the score, date, place of event, the zonal classification and its phase, and the court surface.

ATP Cup (0–3)

Record against top 10 players

Karatsev's record against players who have been ranked in the top 10, with those who are active in boldface. Only ATP Tour main draw matches are considered:

Wins over top 10 players

Karatsev has a record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.

:''* .''

Awards and honours

;International
* ATP Most Improved Player: 2021.

;National
*The Russian Cup in the nominations:
**Junior of the Year: 2011;
**Olympians-2020;
**Team of the Year: 2021.
* Sports title "Merited Master of Sports of Russia" (6 August 2021).
* Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 1st class (11 August 2021).
;Regional
* Medal "For the Glory of Ossetia" (10 September 2021).

See also

* List of sportspeople with dual nationality

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Karatsev, Aslan
1993 births
Living people
Jewish Russian sportspeople
Russian male tennis players
Summer World University Games medalists in tennis
Tennis players from Moscow
Sportspeople from Vladikavkaz
FISU World University Games gold medalists for Russia
FISU World University Games silver medalists for Russia
FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Russia
Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade
Medalists at the 2017 Summer Universiade
Jewish tennis players
Israeli male tennis players
Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent
Ossetian sportspeople
Russian emigrants to Israel
Russian expatriates in Belarus
Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic tennis players for Russia
Olympic silver medalists for the Russian Olympic Committee athletes
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic medalists in tennis
21st-century Russian sportsmen
21st-century Israeli sportsmen