Russian tennis player Aslan Karatsev reached semi-finals of Aus Open
Sport star, who lived in Israel for almost a decade, was 114th seed and almost got to the final
A Russian tennis player with Jewish heritage who lived in Israel for nearly a decade came close to making it to the Australian Open final – despite being 114th seed.
Aslan Karatsev ended up playing – and testing – World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semi-final in his first appearance in a Grand Slam tournament, despite a struggle in the qualifying tournament just to make
the draw.
Karatsev, ranked 253 in the world, received a pat on the back from the champion, who was playing his 39th Grand Slam.
“We need to give Karatsev a hand,” said the veteran Serb.
“Huge congratulations on reaching the semi-finals on his debut. He played
a great tournament.”
On his way to meeting Djokovic, Karatsev beat fellow Jewish player Diego Schwartzman from Argentina, currently ranked in the top 10 in the world.
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