Aslan Karatsev has earned himself quite a reputation after his great run in the 2021 tennis season. Firstly, he defeated Grigor Dimitrov at the Australian Open 2021 to reach the semis of the tournament, and now he’s battled past Andrey Rublev to book his place in his first-ever ATP Tour final.

The Russian will face Lloyd Harris in the finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships 2021 tomorrow.

Even though Aslan Karatsev played amazingly well, it was Andrey Rublev who couldn’t perform up to his potential in the match. He was unbeaten for 23 matches in the ATP 500 tournaments but lost to Karatsev yesterday, which ended his winning streak.

It is a pattern that Rublev doesn’t perform well when his opponents are his fellow countrymen. Against Russians, he has won just one match on the ATP Tour. Surprisingly, he has lost eight so far.

Although he won five ATP titles last year, Rublev hasn’t enjoyed much success against Russians in any tournament. Interestingly, the World No.8 player hasn’t been able to defeat Daniil Medvedev even once in his lifetime, despite facing him on four occasions.

Andrey Rublev in the 2021 season so far

Rublev has played exceptionally well this season so far. He went on to lift the ATP Cup 2021 with his side of Russia in which he won all his four matches. At the Australian Open 2021, he managed to reach the quarters without dropping a set but lost to Medvedev there in straight sets.

The World No.8 player defeated both Andy Murray and Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Rotterdam Open 2021 and went on to win the title. Stunningly, he lost just a single set in the whole tournament.

At the Qatar Open 2021, he lost to Roberto Bautista Agut in the semis. However, he along with partner Aslan Karatsev grabbed the doubles title. The Russian played really well at the Dubai Tennis Championships 2021 as well. However, he couldn’t find a way to battle past Karatsev in the semis.

With his current form, Rublev can surely win around 4-5 more titles on tour this season. However, he needs to find a way to defeat his countrymen in the sport as well. Will Rublev be able to win a major in 2021?

Also Read: Aslan Karatsev Breaks Andrey Rublev’s Incredible ATP 500 Streak to Reach Finals at Dubai Tennis Championships