Karatsev makes his first Grand Slam semifinal

Aslan Karatsev never had managed to make it into the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. Now he just refuses to leave the Australian Open.

Karatsev, a 27-year-old Russian qualifier who is ranked 114th, became the first man in the professional era to reach the semifinals of his first major tennis tournament by beating 18th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday.

"It's an unbelievable feeling," Karatsev said.

"Of course, it's first time. First time in main draw; first time semis. It's incredible."

That's a pretty good word for what he has managed to do. Karatsev failed in nine previous attempts to go through qualifying rounds to play at a Grand Slam tournament.

Now he's making the most of it, getting past Dimitrov - a three-time major semifinalist - after also eliminating two other seeded players, No. 8 Diego Schwartzman and No. 20 Felix Auger-Aliassime.

"It's great to see. I think it's great to see," Dimitrov said about Karatsev's success. "Surprised? No." Bothered by back spams that developed Monday, Dimitrov was not at his best. He finished the match barely able to serve - and barely able to walk up the stairs as he departed Rod Laver Arena.

Dimitrov jumped out to an early lead with three service breaks in the first set. He then held seven break points in Karatsev's first two service games in the second set, but didn't convert any of them.

That's when Karatsev started to believe he could stretch his already remarkable run even further.

"It was really tough in the beginning for me to hold my nerves," Karatsev said. "It was tricky. I tried to play in the second set, to find a way how to play."