{"id":140887,"date":"2021-02-16T14:57:50","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T13:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novakdjokovic.com\/?p=140887"},"modified":"2021-02-16T16:34:41","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T15:34:41","slug":"novak-marches-on-sets-up-karatsev-semi-final-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novakdjokovic.com\/en\/news\/tennis\/novak-marches-on-sets-up-karatsev-semi-final-clash\/","title":{"rendered":"Novak marches on, sets up Karatsev semi-final clash!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nole is just two matches away from clinching an unprecedented ninth Australian Open<\/a> title.<\/p>\n

Top seed and eight-time titlist Novak Djokovic booked his place in the Australian Open semi-final, rallying from a set down to beat Alexander Zverev 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (6) on Tuesday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Novak got off to a slow start against the German, but rallied for a four set win after three hours and 30 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.<\/p>\n

The reigning champion hit back strongly after losing a tight opening set on a tiebreak. While the first set took an hour, Djokovic needed only 29 minutes to grab the second, breaking his rival twice.<\/p>\n

Though he trailed 0-3 in both the third and fourth sets, Nole, the ultimate competitor, pulled himself together and turned them around to seal his 80th match win at Melbourne Park (80-8 W\/L record).<\/p>\n

Djokovic saved nine of 12 break points, including a set point at 5-6 in the fourth set – with an ace, to earn his sixth H2H triumph in eight matches against Zverev.<\/p>\n

“There were a lot of turnarounds today, it\u2019s hard to pick one moment. Rolercoaster of a match. Down to the very last shot it was anybody\u2019s match, really tough. There were a lot of nerves out there, a lot of pressure. I feel exhausted because we pushed each other to the limit,\u201c<\/strong> said Novak. “I didn’t start well and needed time to feel fine in terms of rotation and hitting. After the first set, I just started moving better, playing better. I served extremely well. I had slightly more aces than him, which, for me, is a miracle when playing against a big server like Sascha.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Match statistics: aces (23-21), double faults (5-5), winners (48-45), unforced errors (56-38), total points won (149-139).<\/p>\n

Now into the last four for the ninth time, Novak will face world no.114 Aslan Karatsev.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Russian qualifier made history on Tuesday, becoming the first man in the Open Era to reach the semi-finals on his Grand Slam debut.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, I hadn\u2019t seen him play at all before the Australian Open,\u201d<\/strong> said Djokovic. \u201cOf course, I have seen him play during the tournament. He is a very strong guy. He moves well and has a lot of firepower from the back of the court. He has a great backhand. He is from the Russian school of tennis, they always have great backhands. He serves well and is motivated. He has nothing to lose.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karatsev defeated Grigor Dimitrov in four sets 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.<\/p>\n

Photo: Profimedia<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eight-time Australian Open winner set up a semi-final with world no.114 Aslan Karatsev (RUS, Q), following a 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (6) comeback victory over sixth seed Alexander Zverev.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":140885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[101011992,101013175,101010469,101012415,101011403],"class_list":["post-140887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis","tag-australia","tag-australian-open-2021-en","tag-grand-slam-en-2","tag-melbourne-en","tag-quarterfinal-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novakdjokovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novakdjokovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novakdjokovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novakdjokovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novakdjokovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140887"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/novakdjokovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140943,"href":"https:\/\/novakdjokovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140887\/revisions\/140943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novakdjokovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novakdjokovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novakdjokovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novakdjokovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}