Aslan Karatsev battled past fellow Russian Andrey Rublev in Dubai on Friday to continue his dream season and reach his first ATP singles fi...
Aslan Karatsev battled past fellow Russian Andrey Rublev in Dubai on Friday to continue his dream season and reach his first ATP singles final.
The 27-year-old, who became the first man to reach the semi-finals on their Grand Slam debut in the Open era at the Australian Open last month, edged out his in-form compatriot 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
Karatsev, who climbed from 114th to 42nd in the world rankings following the Australian Open, will face Lloyd Harris in Saturday’s final after the South African’s 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) win over Denis Shapovalov.
“It was a really tight match (against a) tough opponent,” Karatsev said.
“It was an unbelievable performance (from Andrey). He didn’t lose a match at an ATP 500 in (one year). Everything was decided in one or two points, I feel happy.”
He ended second seed Rublev’s 23-match winning streak in ATP 500-level tournaments to become the first wildcard to make the Dubai final since Thomas Muster in 1997.
It will be his first ATP singles final, having won his maiden ATP title playing with Rublev in the Doha doubles tournament last week.
Karatsev raced through the opening set with a run of five straight games, but was pegged back in the second as Rublev broke in game 10, having saved...
