Albert Ramos-Vinolas continued his run of form at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Friday when he reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final in beating Monaco resident and fifth seed Marin Cilic.

Ramos-Vinolas, who is contesting his fifth clay-court tournament of the year (15-5 match record), experienced no let-up from Thursday’s victory over World No. 1 Andy Murray when he defeated Cilic 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-2 in two hours and 33 minutes.

The Spaniard, who is currently at a career-high No. 24 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, picked up his lone ATP World Tour title at the SkiStar Swedish Open (d. Verdasco) in July 2016. Last month, he finished runner-up at the Brasil Open to Pablo Cuevas, a player he could meet on Saturday if the Uruguayan No. 16 seed topples French No. 11 seed Lucas Pouille later today.

Ramos-Vinolas so nearly let his 18th match win of the year slip away, when he led by a set and 5/3 in the tie-break. For one hour and 50 minutes, the Spaniard didn’t blink. But after he dropped to 0-2 in the decider, he managed to regroup and go on a run of six straight games for his first victory over Cilic since the 2011 Shanghai Rolex Masters.

Cilic dominated the early exchanges, centered on his powerful forehand, having grown in confidence after beating ninth seed and 2015 runner-up Tomas Berdych the day before. But Ramos-Vinolas continued to slug it out from deep behind the baseline, just as he did against Murray, to wear down Cilic. Two service breaks in the third and seventh games of the first set went the way of Ramos-Vinolas, who closed out on his third set point opportunity with Cilic striking a backhand return long.

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Cilic committed an unforced error at 30/40 on Ramos-Vinolas’ serve, when leading 1-0, and his frustration began to grow on another hot day at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. Unable to make an impact on Ramos-Vinolas’ serve, at 3-3 Cilic dropped to 0/40 and paid the price with another mis-timed groundstroke. The Croatian regrouped and, in waiting for the ball, rather than taking the ball early, broke Ramos-Vinolas to 15 with four straight forehand winners to level at 5-5. Ramos-Vinolas then saved one set point at 5-6, 30/40, prior to squandering a 5/3 lead in the tie-break.

Cilic sensing Ramos-Vinolas was shaken, broke in the first game of the decider, but he couldn’t make it count as Ramos-Vinolas converted his fifth break point chance in a lengthy fourth game. Thereafter, Cilic won just five points, striking his third double fault in the final game to be broken to love.

The 29-year-old Spaniard recorded his fifth Top 10 victory (5-26 lifetime) and he is now 18-11 on 2017. Cilic, who had not lost a set to Ramos-Vinolas in their previous three meetings (including one on clay at 2012 Hamburg), dropped to a 7-8 mark on the season.

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following match-ups Friday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters & vote for the players you think will win! 
Djokovic v Goffin  |  Nadal v Schwartzman  |  Cilic v Ramos-Vinolas  |  Pouille v Cuevas

After upsetting Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka respectively, No. 15 seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas and No. 16 seed Pablo Cuevas seek their first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Friday. Ramos-Vinolas meets No. 5 seed Marin Cilic and Cuevas takes on No. 11 seed Lucas Pouille, with one of those four men assured a spot in his first Monte-Carlo final.

Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal and two-time champion Novak Djokovic remain in the bottom half of the draw. Nadal meets 5-foot-7 Argentine Diego Schwartzman in the quarter-finals. Schwartzman’s three wins this week will ensure his rise into the Top 40 of the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time on Monday. He is 0-9 lifetime against Top 10 opponents (2-21 in sets). 

Following three-set wins in his first two matches, Djokovic clashes with No. 10 seed David Goffin. The Belgian leads all players on the ATP World Tour with 22 victories this season, but he owns an 0-5 FedEx ATP Head 2 Head record against Djokovic (1-11 in sets). Like Schwartzman, Goffin seeks the biggest win of his career by ranking. He is 0-14 lifetime against Top 3 opponents.

Wild cards Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys meet 2016 finalists Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in one of four doubles quarter-finals to be played on Court Des Princes. Arneodo, a 24-year-old representing Monaco, also reached the quarter-finals in 2014 with countryman Benjamin Balleret. The World No. 851 bids to become the first ATP doubles semi-finalist from Monaco in the Open Era. Jean-Rene Lisnard is the only Monaco player to reach a singles semi-final (2003 Chennai).

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The quarter-finals have been locked in for doubles at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters after three teams recorded impressive victories on Thursday.

Third seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares scored a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 win over Tommy Haas and Treat Huey. The British-Brazilian duo didn’t face a break point en route to wrapping up the match in 59 minutes. Next up for them is the wild card pairing of Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys.

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Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez were just as dominant in their 6-4, 6-2 win over Florin Mergea and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi. The Spaniards now face fourth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo for a spot in the semi-finals.

Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas scored the upset of the day with a comeback 6-7(6), 6-4, 10-6 win over fifth seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram. Awaiting them in the quarter-finals are top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers.

All quarter-final matches in Monte-Carlo will take place on Friday.

Novak Djokovic showcased the temperament of a champion on Thursday night just as victory in his third-round clash against Pablo Carreno Busta appeared to be eluding him at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.

The second seed and two-time former champion saved two break points in a tense ninth game of the deciding set en route to a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory over No. 15 seed Carreno Busta, which lasted two hours and 26 minutes.

“It’s great to overcome the big challenge presented to me today with this kind of win, even though I haven’t played the way I wanted. He’s very difficult to play against. He’s always making you play an extra ball,” said Djokovic. “It’s a win I’ll take as a great confidence boost. I’m confident that with dedication and commitment and a positive mindset, I can get to the level where I want to be.”

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But ?? Djokovic edges ?? Carreno Busta in a thriller to reach the last 8️⃣#MCROLEXMASTERS pic.twitter.com/ep9gJIQRq4

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Djokovic will now prepare for a clash against 10th seed David Goffin of Belgium. The Serbian has lost just one set in five matches against Goffin and leads 5-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. The second seed said he’s eager to continue his run in Monte-Carlo.

“I think I’ve earned the right to be optimistic everywhere I play, everywhere I go, because of the career and results that I’ve had. I think that will never change. I will always want to win in every match that I play in, every tournament that I play in,” said Djokovic. “Of course, playing in Monte-Carlo has a special meaning to me because I live here and I train in this club all year round. I have many friends and family that come and support me. It feels very special. That’s why I always try to give extra effort to really make a good result in this tournament.”

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Although Djokovic saved three break points in a 12-point first game, the Serbian star won six straight games from 2-2 in the first set to a 2-0 lead in the second set. He then let Carreno Busta back into the pair’s second meeting (2014 Monte-Carlo) by losing three successive service games. Although Djokovic pressed the Spaniard into error to recover to 4-5, Carreno Busta took the 55-minute set to ensure a decider.

Djokovic led 4-2 in the third set, but quickly found himself serving at 4-4, 15/40, with Carreno Busta sensing another upset, hours after World No. 1 Andy Murray and 2014 titlist Stan Wawrinka left the Monte-Carlo Country Club for another year.

On Carreno Busta’s first break point chance, he got Djokovic off balance with a lob, but snatched at a backhand and hit the ball into the net. At 30/40, Djokovic opted for power and in advancing to the net gained another backhand error from his opponent. Minutes later, Djokovic struck a drive volley forehand winner for his 30th match win at the historic clay-court tournament.

Monaco resident Djokovic, who won the 2013 (d. Nadal) and 2015 (d. Berdych) titles, is looking to add to his 30 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns this week.

Earlier in the day, Goffin recorded his sixth victory in nine meetings against Dominic Thiem, the sixth seed, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 15 minutes. Goffin fought back from a 2-5 deficit in the first set, having saved one set point with Thiem serving at 5-4, 40/30. Goffin, a runner-up in Sofia and Rotterdam this season, improves to a 22-7 match record in 2017.