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Rising Finnish star Emil Ruusuvuori spoke highly of Russian Aslan Karatsev following their clash at the Astana Open in Nur-Sultan. Ruusuvuori, ranked at No. 84 in the world, upset top-seeded Karatsev 7-6 (6) 6-4 to reach the Nur-Sultan quarterfinal.
Earlier this year, Karatsev made the Australian Open semifinal as a qualifier. Ruusuvuori was happy with his performance as he acknowledged that Karatsev is a great player. “He is a great player,” Ruusuvuori said, per the ATP website.
“He has shown the whole world this year how he can play. He didn’t start the best today and I was able to get a little bit better start, but maybe I didn’t use my chances as well as I could. But to close it in two sets is the main thing”.
Ruusuvuori made the Nur-Sultan semifinal last year and now he is enjoying another deep run at the tournament. “I like the conditions. It is a little bit slower and heavier than last year, so it changes it a little bit, but I still like it,” Ruusuvuori said.
“Everything is familiar and the people are so nice. It is nice to come back."
Ruusuvuori came up big in key moments
Ruusuvuori was twice up by a break in the first set but Karatsev both times recovered to ultimately force a tie-break.
After twice recovering from a break down in the first set, Karatsev had a set point to steal the opener. However, Ruusuvuori kept his focus as he saved Karatsev's set point and then realized his first set point to win a tight opener.
Ruusuvuori then claimed the first break of the second set in the third game but his lead was short-lived as Karatsev broke back in the fourth game. Blowing an early break didn't affect Ruusuvuori, who broke Karatsev again in the ninth game and served out for the match in the 10th game. Ruusuvuori will be fighting against Ilya Ivashka for a place in the Nur-Sultan semifinal.