By Syndicated Content
Feb 17, 2021 5:11 AM
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic is one of the best-known sportsmen in the world but his semi-final on Thursday will be against a player he confessed he was unaware of until this year s Australian Open.
The top-ranked men s player would not be the only one in the tennis circuit who would not have previously heard of the 114th-ranked Russian Aslan Karatsev, 27, before 2021.
But in the past two weeks on Melbourne Park s blue hardcourts, the qualifier has ensured he has the firm attention of the tennis world by becoming the first man in the open era to reach the last four in his maiden Grand Slam.
Qualifier Karatsev s dream run faces Djokovic barrier
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Tennis – Reverra-t-on un jour Roger Federer à l Open d Australie?
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Why Novak Djokovic will win the Australian Open again
Novak Djokovic will once again be the man to beat when the Australian Open gets underway in just under eight weeks.
8 of Djokovic’s 17 Slams have come ‘down under’ – with seven of those arriving in the past decade.
Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
Sure, has suffered shock defeats (to Dennis Istomin in 2017, and Chung Hyeon a year later) but take those out of the equation and Djokovic has lost just one match in Melbourne since 2010.
Djokovic has won the last two versions of the Australian Open – losing just five sets in total. It’s a formidable record.