Japan Open: Karatsev upsets De Minaur to reach semis

Russia’s Aslan Karatsev defeated Australian Alex De Minaur, the No 4 seed, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Japan Open at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo on Friday.

The Russian now leads the head-to-head series between the two players by 2-1, having also won their clash in Madrid earlier this year.

Karatsev, ranked No 50 in the world, will play the winner of the match between Japanese wildcard Shintaro Mochizuki and Australian Alexei Popyrin next.

The Russian won against American Frances Tiafoe, the No 6 seed (6-3, 7-6 (4)) and Chinese Zhizhen Zhang (6-3, 6-4) ahead of his victory.

Earlier in the tournament, De Minaur, ranked No 13, edged out qualifier Jack Draper (4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1)) and won against Argentinian Diego Schwartzman (6-0, 7-5).

Tokyo ATP500, other quarter-final results (Ariake Colosseum, hard, USD 2,013,940):

• Ben Shelton beat Tommy Paul (5): 7-6 (4), 6-3
• Marcos Giron (Q) beat Felix Auger-Aliassime (8): 6-1, 6-4
• Shintaro Mochizuki vs. Alexei Popyrin

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