MADRID — Qualifier Aslan Karatsev reached his first Masters 1000 semifinal after ending a robust run by Chinese participant Zhang Zhizhen 7-6 (3), 6-4 on the Madrid Open on Thursday.

The 121st-ranked Russian saved all three breaks factors he confronted within the first set and transformed his solely alternative within the second.

The 99th-ranked Zhang was the primary Chinese man to make the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 match by upsetting Danis Shapovalov, Cameron Norrie and Taylor Fritz.

Karatsev has been ranked as excessive as 14th. In 2021, he turned the primary man in his Grand Slam debut to succeed in the Australian Open semifinals.

In Madrid, he’s solely the second qualifier to make the semis.

“I started the year inside the top 100 then I dropped and lost some matches,” he mentioned. “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 subsequent face fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas or fortunate loser Jan-Lennard Struff.

The ladies’s semifinals on Thursday characteristic top-ranked Iga Swiatek towards Veronika Kudermetova and second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka taking up ninth-seeded Maria Sakkari.

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