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Russian tennis star Aslan Karatsev has reportedly split with coach Jan de Witt and started working with Boris Sobkin on a trial basis. Sobkin is a well-known and respected coach on the ATP Tour, having worked with former top-10 player Mikhail Youzhny for nearly two decades.
Karatsev, who stunningly reached the Australian Open semifinal as a qualifier last year, is having a rough 2022 season as he is just 9-13 in 2022.Aslan Karatsev parted ways with Jan de Witt and began working with Boris Sobkin on a trial basis.
Sobkin: 'We'll see what comes out of it, if it works or not.' https://t.co/GRb04oZMee — Oleg S. (@AnnaK_4ever) June 7, 2022
Karatsev has just three wins since February and he has lost his last three matches. After starting the clay season with three consecutive defeats, Karatsev defeated Lloyd Harris in the Rome first round to clinch his first clay win of the year.
That turned out to be Karatsev's first and lone win of the clay season as Karatsev then lost his next matches. After suffering a surprise defeat to Camilo Ugo Carabelli in the French Open first round, Karatsev decided to kick off his grass season in Stuttgart.
Karatsev is ranked at No. 40 in the world but he probably forgot to sign up for Stuttgart in time so he had to play the qualifying event. Karatsev didn't start his grass season on a positive way as he was ousted by Dominic Stricker in the Stuttgart qualifying first round.
Karatsev beaten in straight sets by Stricker
This past weekend, 200th-ranked Stricker clinched the biggest win of his career after upsetting Karatsev 7-6 (2) 6-1. Karatsev actually made a good start to the match, taking an early 3-0 lead.
At 4-1 in the first set, Karatsev had a break point which could have given him a double-break lead but failed to convert. Karatsev then blew two consecutive set points on Stricker's serve in the eighth game, before failing to serve out for the first set in the ninth game.
After missing out on two set points in the eighth game, Karatsev missed out on three more set points in the 10th game as Stricker managed to force a tie-break, which he dominated to steal the first set. Karatsev never recovered from blowing five set points in the first set as Stricker dominated the second set to complete a straight-set win.