Djokovic advances to 2021 Australian Open final after defeating Karatsev

Novak Djokovic showcased a high level of tennis in his semifinal match against Aslan Karatsev moving to another Australian Open final.

It was a proper tennis masterclass from Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals against Aslan Karatsev whom he defeated in straight sets 6-3 6-4 6-2. The match itself was largely as one would expect. Aslan Karatsev continued his aggressive playstyle attacking at every opportunity but the level of Djokovic countered that well enough. The Russian made too many errors and Djokovic used that to clinch the opening set 6-3. The 2nd set was even more impressive from Djokovic who jumped out to a 5-1 after some stellar returning but the Russian would counter. He completely relaxed and started hitting some great shots with Novak not being able to find a solution.

The Russian fought back to 5-4 even forcing two breaks points to make it 5-5 but Djokovic held on and clinched the set 6-4 with a strong roar of emotion. It was a crucial point in the match where Djokovic prevented momentum from shifting on Karatsev side and increasing the pressure on the Russian even more. He faltered at the start of the 3rd set allowing Djokovic to take a 2-0 lead. A brief counter from the Russian made it 2-2 but Djokovic once again delivered on the court breaking him to take the lead once more.

The Russian never recovered after that and Novak finished out the match with a 6-2 final set victory. All in all, it was a tennis masterclass by Djokovic who was better in key moments of the match. His serving was also exceptional hitting 17 aces to only 2 double faults.