Belgrade, April 25: Russian third seed Aslan Karatsev clinched the biggest win of his career when he defeated world No. 1 Novak Djokovic 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in a three-hour, 25-minute slugfest to reach the Serbia Open final.
The 27-year-old Karatsev will take on Italy’s Matteo Berrettini who defeated American-born Japanese Taro Daniel 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-0 in the other semi-final.
Taking on the top seed at his namesake Novak Tennis Centre in Belgrade, Karatsev stayed calm in the decisive moments to save 23 of the 28 break points he faced against Djokovic on Saturday.
The Russian stuck to his aggressive strategy to survive a second-set comeback and record a memorable win, which turned out to be the longest ATP Tour match of the year against Djokovic.
“It was a long, tough match against a tough opponent,” Karatsev said on the ATP Tour website. “You have to put in like 200 per cent to beat this guy; it’s like playing against a wall.”
Karatsev improved to 1-1 in his ATP head-to-head against Djokovic, avenging his straight-sets defeat in the 2021 Australian Open semi-finals. The Russian will face second seed Matteo Berrettini for a shot at winning his second tour-level trophy.
With his fifth tour-level clay-court victory, Karatsev snapped Djokovic’s 11-match winning streak on home soil (30-4 overall) dating back to Davis Cup in 2011. (IANS)
