ATP: What actually became of … Aslan Karatsev?
What a tennis year 2021 did Aslan Karatsev have ! And the one that was completed a few weeks ago hadn't started badly either. Little is left of that.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Dec 21, 2022, 08:19 am
It is impossible to overstate the prophetic gifts of Daniil Medvedev, who stood at the ATP Cup awards ceremony in early 2021 and prophesied that his teammate Aslan Karatsev had a bright future ahead of him. And indeed: Just a few days after this very clinical ceremony caused by Corona, Karatsev surprisingly advanced to the semifinals, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.
It was really fun to watch Aslan Karatsev at work, especially in Dubai where he won his first title on the ATP Tour. That no-frills game, those straight shots, that, yes, killer calves that all of Karatsev's power seemed to come from. That package was even enough to win Djokovic at his home tournament in Belgrade and a second championship later in the year in Moscow. And who would have thought that the now 29-year-old could not maintain this level: Karatsev triumphed in Sydney right at the beginning of the 2022 tennis year.
Karatsev wins only one match on clay
With which the glory had already found its end. At the Australian Open, the Russian reached the third round again (loss against Adrian Mannarino), but the planned title defense in Dubai fell through in round one (against Mackenzie McDonald, whom Karatsev had beaten in Melbourne). The entire clay court season brought Aslan Karatsev exactly one win: in Rome against Lloyd Harris, truly no Cinder Wizard. That was also the time when Jan de Witt was the trainer, all in all a rather short interlude. At the moment Yahor Yatsik is listed as coach.
The remaining highlights of 2022? Two quarter-finals in Bastad and Hamburg, in which Karatsev failed in each case to Francisco Cerundolo. Which makes 59th place in the ATP charts in the final count. Aslan Karatsev started the year 2022 on position 20.
Will there be a new attempt at the extended world class in the coming weeks? Or has the competition figured out how best to play against Karatsev (patience is usually rewarded)? The crashed high-flyer only has points to defend at the beginning.