Novak Djokovic moved a step closer to his first Monte Carlo Masters title since 2015 by beating Australian Alex de Minaur to reach the semi-finals here on Friday.
World No.1 Djokovic, 36, clinched a messy second set which saw seven breaks of serve to seal a 7-5, 6-4 win.
The Serb is through to a men’s record 77th semi-final at ATP 1000 events, surpassing Rafael Nadal.
Italy’s world No.2 Jannik Sinner beat Holger Rune 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 in the quarter finals after his Danish opponent saved two match points.
Rune had played two matches on Thursday, first finishing his rain-affected clash with Sumit Nagal, winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, before a three-and-a-half hour thriller with Grigor Dimitrov where he saved two match points, with both games going the distance.
He looked far from fatigued as he faced the Australian Open champion in bright sunshine but the 20-year-old also took on the crowd, who jeered and whistled at him as he argued with the chair umpire over a line call.
“Playing against him is never easy, especially in such occasions. I’m very happy I won today, but mostly about my physical level — I raised it today,” Sinner said.
In the day’s opening quarter final, 12th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Karen Khachanov 6-4, 6-2 in a rematch of last year’s Australian Open semi-final as the Greek looks to return to form after a mixed record in 2024.
Tsitsipas won the title here in 2021 and 2022. “I would lie if I said it doesn’t bring good memories stepping out on this court... It’s something that I attribute some of my performances here over time to,” Tsitsipas said.
