SA's Harris runner-up as Russia's Karatsev seals maiden ATP title
Russian Aslan Karatsev continued his remarkable season by winning his first ATP Tour title on Saturday, beating South African Lloyd Harris in the Dubai final.
The 27-year-old, who became the first man to reach the semi-finals on their Grand Slam debut in the Open era at the Australian Open last month, cruised past South African Harris 6-3, 6-2.
"You never know when (success) is coming," said Karatsev, who is the first wildcard to win the Dubai title since Thomas Muster in 1997.
"I did a good job with my team, with my coach and it has happened now."
Karatsev, who climbed from 114th to 42nd in the world rankings following the Australian Open, broke qualifier Harris' serve midway through the opening set and twice more in the second.
It was his first ATP singles final, having won an event for the first time on tour in last week's doubles tournament in Doha, alongside compatriot Andrey Rublev.
He dumped out the in-form Rublev in Friday's semi-finals and backed that up against Harris.
Karatsev saved the only two break points he faced as he raced to victory in under an hour and 20 minutes.
"I am super happy. It was a tight match. (I was) really nervous," added Karatsev. "I want to congratulate my opponent for the final (run). He did a great week... I am happy that I won."
Harris, who produced stunning upsets against higher-ranked opponents throughout the week says he is taking many positives from his performances at the tournament.
"Aslan was just too good today, and sometimes it happens like that, but I'm going to take all the big ups from this week, move forward and take it into the next tournament."
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