Fans recently witnessed a nail-biter of a semi-final at the Serbian Open 2021. In an epic encounter, Aslan Karatsev battled past World No.1 Novak Djokovic to reach the finals of the tournament, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
The match was pretty much the repeat of the Australian Open 2021 semi-final, however, this time it was Karatsev who emerged as the winner of the match.
Set-1: Aslan Karatsev prevails
Serving first, Novak Djokovic began the set on a high note by winning three consecutive games. Interestingly, he broke in the second game and then won the third to take a healthy lead.
The levels are rising in Serbia…@DjokerNole @SerbiaOpen2021 pic.twitter.com/wx5d74XUtj
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 24, 2021
However, Karatsev didn’t give up and fought back, winning three back-to-back games after breaking in the fifth game. As a result, the score reached 3-3.
Each player won his serve next, making the score 4-4 at the end of the 8th game.
It was the Karatsev who broke next, took the score to 5-4 in his favor. Serving for the set, he tried hard, but the World No.1 player broke back and equalized the score again at 5-5.
Halfway to a major upset in Belgrade
@AsKaratsev takes the first set 7-5 over Djokovic. #SerbiaOpen2021 pic.twitter.com/meesPNLanM
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 24, 2021
Although Djokavic managed to save the set to some extent, Karatsev was playing beautifully. He broke for the third time in the subsequent game and then, with the help of an amazing forehand winner, sealed the next game as well. Thus, he won the set 7-5.
Set-2: Novak Djokovic bounces back
Djokovic yet again had a good start as he took a 2-0 lead over Karatsev by breaking in the second set. However, the Russian again managed to bounce back by exhibiting some great skills on the court. Surprisingly, he even delivered two single-handed backhands and stole the hearts of the fans.
Karatsev broke in the fifth game yet again and was now leading for the first time in the second set. Things were getting out of the hands of the Serbian legend, and he needed to do something in order to fight back. However, Karatsev was not in a mood to take the match too long. He won his fourth back-to-back game and made the score 4-2.
Pulling out all the stops!
TWO single-handed backhands!
@AsKaratsev @SerbiaOpen2021 pic.twitter.com/zSZx0k6RNb
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 24, 2021
Djokovic tweaked his strokes and re-worked his strategy. As a result, he finally won a game after losing four of them and narrowed down the margin to 4-3. He broke in the next game won the next-to-next too to take the lead once again. The score at this time was 5-4.
We’ve got a match on our hands!
@DjokerNole digs deep to take the second set 6-4 over Karatsev.#SerbiaOpen2021 pic.twitter.com/1ISLY5nCrf
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 24, 2021
Serving to save the set, Karatsev took an early lead in the game. However, Djokovic was just brilliant with his defense and broke yet again to take the set 6-4.
Set-3: The decider
Even though Karatsev gained two break points in the first game of the third set, he couldn’t capitalize on them. As a result, Djokovic yet again managed to win the first game. The one who served continued to win, and the score soon reached 3-3.
Interestingly, Djokovic saved three break-points in the fifth game. In response, Karatsev saved a total of five break-points in the six games and managed to level the score. The Russian finally broke in the seventh game and was now leading 4-3.
The Russian gained some momentum after his win in the previous game and took it forward to extend his lead to 5-3. He was now just one game away from entering the finals. However, Djokovic fought back, saved a match-point, and then made the score 4-5.
Serving for the match, Karatsev didn’t take long and won the game quite easily. With this, he also conquered the set 6-4, and thus won the match.
