BERGAMO/STARNBERG, October 31, 2022
Evgeny Karlovskiy has reached the main draw of the 17th edition of the Trofeo Perrel – Faip, as the ATP Challenger Tour returns to Bergamo, Italy. The 28-year-old Russian, father of two children, rallied past Romanian veteran Marius Copil 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final round of the qualifying on Monday.
Karlovksiy is part of the generation of Russians who took up tennis in the golden years of the Yeltsin presidency that culminated with two Davis Cup triumphs headlined by Evgeny Kafelnikov, Marat Safin and Nikolay Davydenko.
When the World No. 302 started playing tennis he was four years old and hit his first balls with his grandfather. Karlovskiy was ranked World No. 37 as a junior and won the Yeltsin Cup in 2011. Along the way he beat Aslan Karatsev, a year older than him, who would later reach the semi-finals of the 2021 Australian Open. Karlovskiy turned pro 10 years ago, captured his first and so far only ATP Challenger Tour title in 2018 in Winnetka, Canada and has reached a career-high ranking of World No. 211.
“Sometimes it is very difficult to keep your motivation up,” the Moscow native said.
“Many times you are disappointed and think about quitting playing. But I try to do my best, I want to see how strong I can be. I have thought many times about saying enough. It happens after a bad defeat or after a series of negative results. I ask myself why I go on if I don’t earn any money but I have a family at home waiting for me. Fortunately I have their support.” Karlovskiy is married to Anastasia and the couple already have two sons (Nikita and Konstantin).
They did not accompany him in Bergamo, where he will face last week’s Val Gardena Challenger champion Borna Gojo of Croatia in the first round of the main draw.
TROFEO PERREL – FAIP BERGAMO Monday Results
First Round – SinglesVit Kopriva (CZE) b. Dimitar Kuzmanov (BUL) 4-6 6-2 6-1Yannick Hanfmann (GER) b. Zsombor Piros (UNG) 5-7 6-2 6-2Nuno Borges (POR) b. Jozef Kovalik (SVK) 7-5 6-3Dominic Stricker (SUI) b. Tim Van Rijthoven (NED) 3-6 6-4 6-4Final Round – QualifyingCem Ilkel (TUR) b. Illya Marchenko (UCR) 7-6(6) 6-2Alibek Kachmazov (RUS) b. Jason Kubler (AUS) 4-6 7-6(2) 6-1Altug Celikbilek (TUR) b. Giovanni Oradini (ITA) 7-5 6-2Andrea Vavassori (ITA) b. Valentin Royer (FRA) 4-6 6-3 6-2Otto Virtanen (FIN) b. Antoine Bellier (SUI) 7-6(4) 6-2Evgeny Karlovskiy (RUS) b. Marius Copil (ROM) 3-6 6-3 6-4
