'Facing Novak Djokovic brings different level of tennis,' said Karatsev

Entering the Australian Open as a qualifier and three ATP wins under his belt, Aslan Karatsev made a perfect Major debut, reaching the semi-final to set the Novak Djokovic clash.

Aslan played on a high level in the opening five Melbourne Park encounters to become the first qualifier in a Major semi-final, hoping for a miracle against the eight-time champion Novak Djokovic but suffering a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 loss in an hour and 53 minutes. Speaking about the match, Karatsev said it was different from anything you could experience before, as Novak threw everything at him no matter how hard you attack him.

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"Match against Novak Djokovic was something different than anything before. I played against Diego Schwartzman, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Grigor Dimitrov, staying on the level terms with them and raising my game to force errors and control the pace. Against Novak, everything goes back at you as you hit against the wall. I struggled to find the first serve and impose my strokes behind the initial shot in general.

Novak was on fire behind the serve; I had that one moment when I came close to him, and he landed an ace to get out of trouble. Also, you are getting exhausted as the match progresses, hitting every ball in full swing just to stay in touch with him. That also creates psychological pressure on both serve and return. You feel you have to serve like Isner to have a chance, even though he can't do much against Novak," Aslan Karatsev said.