(Tennis news) Aslan Karatsev had a giant killing run from the start of the year as he became the first man to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam in his debut. He had come through the qualifiers in the Australian Open and defeated Diego Schwartzman, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Grigor Dimitrov on the way to the semifinals where he lost to Novak Djokovic. His run didn't stop there as he went on to win the Dubai Open and defeated Djokovic in the semifinals in his home turf at the Belgrade Open in Serbia.
After his performance at the Belgrade Open, he slumped to poor form which saw him failing to advance to the quarterfinals in the next 11 tournaments. In the San Diego Open, Aslan beat in form Hubert Hurkacz in a three set contest which lasted for two and half hours. Hubert started well by taking the first set but an aggressive Aslan kept hitting the ball harder than his opponent. Aslan took the next two sets as the match looked more predictable towards the end and defeated Hubert 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
Rising star Casper Ruud was in relentless pursuit for a win against Andy Murray as the rallies were long and gruelling. Ruud took the first set after finally managing to break Murray as both of them did not seem to give in at any point of time. In the second set Ruud managed to take a 3-0 lead as the crowd started engaging more with every rally as both were playing from the baseline. Ruud defeated Murray 7-5, 6-4.
Denis Shapovalov found answers from the net as well as the baseline as Taylor Fritz kept attacking Denis. Fritz came at the net multiple times in the opening set but could not keep the ball away from Denis who covered the court effortlessly and took the first set with a running winner across Fritz at the net. In the second set, Fritz played from the back of the court which clearly was not a good idea as Denis raced to take the second set with powerful forehands. Denis defeated Fritz 7-6(9-7), 6-2.
Grigor Dimitrov lost only two games against August Holmgren in his fourth round match up as he will be facing Aslan in the quarterfinals and will look to avenge his Australian Open defeat earlier this year. Dimitrov was a sight to watch against Holmgren as he cooked up great shots to give the 901 ranked player a free tennis lesson, Holmgren hit the ball hard but was not fast enough for Dimitrov as he was too good at every point simply showing his experience and agility on court. Dimitrov defeated Holmgren 6-1, 6-1.
Cameron Norrie saved a handful of set points in the first set and came back from 2-5 down to take the first set in a tiebreaker against Daniel Evans. Evans failed to capture the set after multiple set points and faced the forehand wrath of Norrie. In the second set, Norrie broke Evans as Evans missed an easy backhand volley in the eighth game to give Norrie the advantage and then Norrie served out the match to set up a clash with Denis in a battle of left handers in the quarterfinal. 7-6(7-3), 6-3.
Also read: Grigor Dimitrov records first victory over Marton Fucsovics at San Diego Open
