MUTUA MADRID OPEN

May 4, 2023

Aslan Karatsev

Press Conference

A. KARATSEV/Z. Zhizhen

7-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Well done, Aslan. Do you think you're playing as well as your start of 2021 when you got to the semifinals and won Dubai and all those big matches?

ASLAN KARATSEV: Yeah. I think I get up my level. I bring it back. I don't know how to compare if I play the same as two years ago, but I feel great on court. I feel confident. I stay focused on my game.

Yeah, all in all, you know, I managed to complete the game plan for every match. This is important. So all in all, yes.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You had Jan-Lennard Struff in qualifying. I thought, oh, that's a tough qualifier. You won that match. You're now in the semifinals 10 days later or however long later, and it's not been a great 2023. Where did this form come from?

ASLAN KARATSEV: We start really -- I start I think 90-something beginning of the year and then I drop 120-something. I start to play already challenger. I lost everything in challenger.

I think it's the hard work that every day you just keep practicing and keep believing with my coach, with my team. You never know when it's happen. Same things happening two years ago. You never know when, how to say, the push is coming. So you practice. You compete. Then someday you success (smiling).

Q. On that, what was it like to actually have to go back to challengers? Was it at all like frustrating, or how did you take that, I guess?

ASLAN KARATSEV: It was great. Great experience.

No, I mean, you have to play. I dropped down the ranking. I don't feel something bad or -- it's normal tournament as ATP but a little bit -- the level, I mean, I wouldn't say the level challenger much less than ATP 250 event. I felt good. It felt good. I was trying to win some matches, but I was not able. I lost first round.

Then I moved to Morocco 250, also losing there. Then, yeah, just keep practicing, playing, playing last week in Munich. I started feeling already better. I pass the quallies. Yeah, I tried to find my game.

Q. I wanted to ask you in 2021 you reach a Grand Slam semifinal from qualifying, and today you reach your maiden semifinal in a Masters 1000. How has been your journey throughout those two years from the mental side, keeping up with the ups and lows?

ASLAN KARATSEV: There is always ups and down, but for me I had really big down, let's say. But also, it's related some personal reason. Also, we start again with my coach that we worked before. We start in Basel.

Really happy that we find a way to start to work together. It's really helped me like this is the guy who can help me most of the coaches right now on the court, off the court. So we have a really good combination.

Yeah, I think now I'm more, you know, that experience that I get from past two years, I think I have it more now. Now it's more calm, so you stay a bit focused on the things that you have to do.

Q. Wondering how you feel it's gone with the tournament being two weeks and with Masters events being over two weeks now, from your perspective, from qualifying as well, what it's been like.

ASLAN KARATSEV: From one side it's long, it's really long. But for another hand you have time to recovery. Especially for me that I'm coming from the quallies. So you have some days off in between. So from this side it's really good.

I understand also the players that's saying it's too long. So it's...

Q. Do you think you will play in Rome the qually?

ASLAN KARATSEV: I don't think. I know I play quallies. I'm quallies in Rome at the moment.

Q. Yes. Do you play?

ASLAN KARATSEV: I play. If you give me wildcard, I'll be happy (smiling).

Q. On today's match, how big and how important were the three breakpoints in the first set I think it was? And you served incredibly. Is this a service place?

ASLAN KARATSEV: You mean the first game, my service game? Yeah, I was starting let's say bad, bad moving. Really rushing the point. Was Love-40.

Then somehow I managed to close it with big serves. Yeah. The key point was the serve to manage to close the game.