MADRID — Qualifier Aslan Karatsev reached his first Masters 1000 semifinal after ending a strong run by Chinese player Zhang Zhizhen 7-6 (3), 6-4 at the Madrid Open on Thursday.
The 121st-ranked Russian saved all three breaks points he faced in the first set and converted his only opportunity in the second.
The 99th-ranked Zhang was the first Chinese man to make the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 tournament by upsetting Danis Shapovalov, Cameron Norrie and Taylor Fritz.
Karatsev has been ranked as high as 14th. In 2021, he became the first man in his Grand Slam debut to reach the Australian Open semifinals.
In Madrid, he’s only the second qualifier to make the semis.
“I started the year inside the top 100 then I dropped and lost some matches,” he said. “You have to keep going and believe, and I have a team behind me that is always supporting me and believing in me.”
Karatsev will next face fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas or lucky loser Jan-Lennard Struff.
The women’s semifinals on Thursday feature top-ranked Iga Swiatek against Veronika Kudermetova and second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka taking on ninth-seeded Maria Sakkari.
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