The former Israeli defeated Lloyd Harris 3: 6, 2: 6 in the final, and won the first ATP title of his career • Expected to climb to 27th place in the world
Aslan Kratzb with the degree.
A dream year
Photo:
AFP
The wonderful year of the former Israeli, Aslan Kratzb, continued tonight (Saturday) with a win in the Dubai tournament after a 3: 6, 2: 6 victory over Lloyd Harris in the prestigious final. The Russian tennis player (42 in the world), lifted the first ATP title in his career and already today The next two are expected to climb to 27th place in the world rankings.
Kratzb, who came to Dubai thanks to a "free ticket" he received, passed his compatriot Andrei Rublev in the semi-finals and in tonight's final he only needed 77 minutes of tennis to beat the 81-year-old South African as well.
And if that's not enough, the former Israeli, who pocketed $ 150,000, is a handsome sum by all accounts.
As you may recall, just last month, Kratzb shattered all predictions, becoming the fifth in history to make it to the semi-finals of the Australian Championship after advancing from the qualifiers.
Kratzb, who immigrated to Israel at the age of 4, was the best player in Israel at the age of children.
He grew up in the Jaffa Tennis Center until the age of 12 and was marked as the heir of Dudi Sela.
But then the tennis association and tennis centers allowed more talent to slip through the fingers and the talented boy left the country with his father while his sister and mother stayed here.