World No. 1 and eight-time champion Novak Djokovic leads Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev 6-3 on Thursday night in their Australian Open semi-final. Djokovic is on course to reach his 28th Grand Slam championship final.
Karatsev didn’t appear to be fazed by the biggest occasion of his career, striking powerful groundstrokes to keep Djokovic behind the baseline in the first set. The Russian won four straight points from 0/30 to overcome his first challenge at 2-3, but Djokovic broke to love for a 5-3 advantage after Karatsev made three consecutive errors. Djokovic won eight straight points to clinch the 35-minute opener, which saw Karatsev commit 13 unforced errors.
The 27-year-old Karatsev is bidding to become the first player to reach the final on his Grand Slam debut. At No. 114 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Karatsev is also attempting to become the lowest-ranked man to reach a major single final since World No. 125 Goran Ivanisevic at 2001 Wimbledon.
After Rafael Nadal's loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Wednesday, Novak Djokovic is guaranteed to remain as World No. 1 through at least 8 March, when he will overtake Roger Federer to set a new record of 311 total weeks at No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/3qvqnPm
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