Madrid [Spain], May 2 : Aslan Karatsev produced a stunning performance to upset second seed Dil Medvedev on Tuesday at the Madrid Open.
On Arantxa Sanchez Stadium, the former World No. 14 and three-time tour-level champion delivered a spectacular assault of baseline hitting his route to a 7-6(1), 6-4 victory over the in-form Medvedev.
Karatsev's power and the consistent depth of his groundstrokes proved too much even for Medvedev, one of the best defenders on Tour, to handle.
Some of Karatsev's hitting against Medvedev on Tuesday reminded me of the run in Melbourne. Hitting easily from both sides, he smashed 27 winners to Medvedev's eight, becoming only the fifth player this season to overcome the World No. 3.
Karatsev stormed to the first-set tie-break with four clean winners in eight points, then won the second set with a decisive break in the fifth game. At the Caja Magica, he will face either Taylor Fritz or Zhang Zhizhen.
After falling as low as 129 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on 17 April, the 29-year-old Karatsev has defeated seeded players Botic van de Zandschulp, Alex de Minaur, and Medvedev in consecutive rounds in Madrid. As a result of his accomplishments in Spain, he has risen to No. 89 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, and he is feeling confident as he prepares for his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.
"I'm feeling great, playing well. I just have to focus every match, so I will be prepared for the next one... [Against top players] you just concentrate more, you have to be 100 per cent, you have to focus more because they do not give you any free points. You have to be consistent and mentally tough, so I think I'm doing well," ATP.com quoted Karatsev as saying.
"I was struggling last year. I'm really happy with my game [now], so we'll see what [happens next]," said Karatsev after improving his ATP Head2Head record against Medvedev to 2-1.
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