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Stat Of The Day: Karatsev's winning debut on clay

The 27-year-old had never played a tour-level match away from hard courts until Monday.

ByJohn Berkok

Published Apr 12, 2021

Each day of the week we take a look at the most intriguing numbers and facts that should be noted as the season progresses.

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It’s been a year of firsts for Aslan Karatsev—first main draw of a Grand Slam, then first Grand Slam semifinal, Top 100 debut, Top 50 debut, first ATP title in Dubai, then subsequently his Top 30 debut…

And in Monte Carlo on Monday, the 27-year-old Russian played his first-ever tour-level match on clay, and won it too, beating fellow 2021 breakthrough story Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-4.

If his previous results below tour-level are anything to go by, the transition to the dirt should be a smooth one for Karatsev. Coming into 2021 he only played 13 matches at the tour-level, all on hard courts, going 3-10—but he played 204 matches at the Challenger level, going 109-95, and he was a strong 54-37 on clay (meanwhile, he was 55-57 on hard courts and just 0-1 on grass).