Alejandro Davidovich Fokina continued his dream run at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters Saturday, downing Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-3 to reach his first ATP Tour final.

The Spaniard arrived in Monte Carlo with a 4-9 record on the season, having earned just one Top 100 win in 2022. However, the World No. 46 has produced a string of impressive performances this week, combining quality with grit to earn standout victories over World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Indian Wells champ Taylor Fritz, Marcos Giron, David Goffin and now Dimitrov.

Competing in his maiden ATP Masters 1000 semi-final, a pumped-up Davidovich Fokina recovered from squandering a 5-3 lead in the second set as he rose to the occasion in the decider in front of a lively crowd on Court Rainier III. The 22-year-old blasted his groundstrokes with consistent depth, successfully targeted Dimitrov’s backhand and rallied from a break down in the third set to triumph after two hours and 42 minutes.

“I am so, so happy to be in the final. It is a dream come true,” Davidovich Fokina said in his on-court interview. “When I was a kid I was dreaming about this day. It is a dream and I am so happy. The second set I had my chances, but I didn’t play very well. I was so tight and he just put the ball in. The tie-break was also tight. But I went to the bathroom and said that I want this win.”

Davidovich Fokina, who reached the last eight in Monte Carlo in 2021, will be aiming to win his first tour-level title when he faces second seed Alexander Zverev or reigning champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday’s final. He was 0-3 in tour-level semi-finals heading into his match with Dimitrov, but changed that record with his proactive display to earn the biggest win of his career.

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The 22-year-old broke Dimitrov five times and looked to open up the court as he hit an array of angles to pull the Bulgarian around. With his hard-fought victory, Davidovich Fokina now leads Dimitrov 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series, having also defeated the former World No. 3 on clay in Rome last year. By reaching the final, Davidovich Fokina is projected to climb 19 places to No. 27 in the ATP Rankings and will crack the Top 20 for first time if he wins the title.

“He started the second set well and had the chances to break me again for 3-0. But that hold gave me power to keep pushing,” Davidovich Fokina said. “Now I am in the final I will enjoy it and try my best.”

The Spaniard made a fast start as he showcased his current confidence levels with an all-court display in the first set. Davidovich Fokina crushed his groundstrokes with heavy topspin to move 3-1 ahead as he earned an early break. According to Infosys ATP Stats, the World No. 46 did not face a break point in the opener and sealed the set when Dimitrov could only hit a forehand long when pinned deep behind the baseline.

The 30-year-old responded quickly at the start of the second set, though, as Davidovich Fokina’s intensity slightly dropped. However, from 2-0 up, Dimitrov started to hit his backhands short again, which allowed Davidovich Fokina to gain the upper hand in rallies and dictate. The Spaniard won four straight games, but from 5-4 he was unable to serve out the match as nerves appeared to impact his ball striking. Dimitrov then played the more aggressive tennis in the tie-break to force a decider.

Fuelled with confidence, Dimitrov looked as if he was heading for the finish line when he moved 2-0 ahead in the third set. But crucially, Davidovich Fokina saved four break points at 0-2, including one with an underarm serve. His hold changed the momentum of the match once again, with the Spaniard winning six of the next seven games to triumph.

Dimitrov was playing in his second semi-final in Monte Carlo, having enjoyed a run to the last four in 2018. The World No. 29, who upset fourth seed Casper Ruud earlier this week, is an eight-time tour-level titlist. However, the 30-year-old has not lifted a trophy since he clinched the Nitto ATP Finals crown in London in 2017.

Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury reached a maiden Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final in dramatic style on Saturday as they overcame Rohan Bopanna and Jamie Murray in a semi-final epic at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Ram and Salisbury needed a strong Match Tie-break performance to see off their unseeded opponents, who had taken the first set with a solitary break. The top seeds failed to convert the only break point opportunity they carved out in the match but held their nerve to clinch a 3-6, 7-6(4), 11-9 victory.

Ram and Salisbury’s comeback win was powered by a strong serving performance. They won 82 per cent (31/38) of points behind their first delivery overall, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Bopanna and Murray won 74 points in the match to Ram and Salisbury’s 67 but were second best at crucial moments on Court Rainier III. Bopanna has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 3 while Murray is a former World No. 1, but the duo was playing as a team for the first time this week.

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If the American-British duo can lift its maiden clay-court trophy in Monte Carlo it will cap a perfect week for 29-year-old Salisbury, who became the world’s top-ranked doubles player for the first time on Monday, 4 April. He is only the second British player after Murray to achieve that feat.

Ram and Salisbury will now face Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in Sunday’s final after the sixth seeds defeated Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer, 7-5, 6-3.

Cabal and Farah won 81 per cent (34/42) of points behind their first delivery and saved all four break points they faced to advance after 85 minutes.

The pair has won 19 tour-level titles together and will be aiming to clinch their third Masters 1000 crown together on Sunday. It will be a tough task, though, with Ram and Salisbury leading the Colombians 4-1 in their ATP Head2Head series.

After all four singles quarter-finals went the distance on a Friday for the ages at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, the marathon victors return for more in Saturday’s semi-finals. The two highest-seeded players remaining are set to square off as defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas takes on Alexander Zverev, but not before unseeded opponents Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Grigor Dimitrov trade blows on Court Rainier III.

Doubles play also moves exclusively to the Monte Carlo Country Club’s show court for the semi-finals, with top seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury seeking to maintain their perfect set record on the week and claim their first ATP Tour title of the 2022 season.

View Schedule | View Singles Draw | View Doubles Draw

[2] Alexander Zverev (GER) vs. [3] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)

Both Zverev and Tsitsipas mounted thrilling comebacks to reach the last four. Zverev was down a set and a break against fan favourite Jannik Sinner, then twice led by a break in the final set before taking a nerve-wracking tie-break to advance, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(5). The German is through to his second semi-final on the season and his second in Monte Carlo.

“It means a lot, definitely, especially [with] how this year has been going so far for me,” said Zverev after his marathon win. “I’ve lost long matches like that, so I’m happy I won this one.”

Zverev is seeking to complete the triple crown of clay-court ATP Masters 1000 titles, having triumphed in Madrid twice and Rome once. He can close to within 235 ATP Ranking points of World No. 1 Novak Djokovic with the Monaco title, and can gain significant ground on injured World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev as well.

Tsitsipas, defending 1,000 points as last year’s champion, was two games from defeat in his quarter-final against Diego Schwartzman. After leading, 6-2, 5-2, he dropped a 3/7 tie-break and fell behind 0-4 in the final set before sweeping the final six games to close out an epic day of tennis in Monte Carlo.

The World No. 5 Greek holds a 6-3 edge over Zverev in their ATP Head2Head series, including a 2-0 mark on clay, but the German has taken two of their past three meetings. Each of their past two matchups went the distance in 2021, with Tsitsipas winning a five-set semi-final at Roland Garros and Zverev taking a third-set tie-break at the same stage of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) vs. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)

After reaching the Monte Carlo quarter-finals for the second straight year, Davidovich Fokina broke new ground with his 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over 10th seed Taylor Fritz. Also a Roland Garros quarter-finalist in 2021, the 22-year-old Spaniard is through to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final.

“I am so, so happy,” Davidovich Fokina said after knocking out the American Indian Wells champion. “Last year I reached the quarter-finals. The emotions to be in the semi-finals are so high. I am enjoying every point.”

Davidovich Fokina kickstarted his run by upsetting Novak Djokovic in the second round, the opening match of the tournament for the Serb.

“When you beat the World No. 1 it gives you a lot of confidence physically, mentally and technically,” the Spaniard reflected. “I am pushing myself every match to play harder and harder.”

Dimitrov is competing in his eighth ATP Masters 1000 semi-final and seeking a second title at that level following his 2017 Cincinnati triumph. The Bulgarian opened the 2022 ATP Tour season by reaching the semi-finals at the Melbourne ATP 250 event, and reached the Indian Wells quarter-finals in March.

Following victories against 15th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili (first round), fourth seed Casper Ruud (third round) and 11th seed Hubert Hurkacz (quarter-finals), Dimitrov will face his second unseeded opponent of the week on Saturday. Like Zverev, the Bulgarian won a third-set tie-break to reach the last four, downing Hurkacz, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2).

“I am just going one day at a time,” the veteran said of his approach at his first clay-court event of the season. “I’ve put in the work — that’s all I’ve done. I’m not even thinking of how I’m playing or anything like that, I just want to [do] a lot of work. The season on clay is not that long so you just want to keep on building, and that’s all I’m doing right now.”

Dimitrov is the oldest of the four quarter-finalists at 30, with Zverev the next-oldest at 24.

Doubles Semi-finals

A pair of British doubles stars will square off in the opening match of the day, as World No. 1 Joe Salisbury and longtime partner Rajeev Ram face former No. 1 Jamie Murray and Rohan Bopanna. The British-Indian duo are competing in their first ATP Tour event as a team, while Salisbury and the USA’s Ram seek their sixth title together.

The top seeds have dropped just 12 games in two matches en route to the semi-finals. By contrast, Murray and Bopanna won a pair of Match Tie-breaks to open their campaign, then edged third seeds Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers, 7-6(8), 7-6(8), in the quarters.

Sixth-seeded Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah will take on eighth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer in the day’s second semi-final, which will close out the evening’s play in Monaco.

SATURDAY, APRIL 16 – SCHEDULE

COURT RAINIER III start 11:30 a.m.
[1] R. Ram (USA / J. Salisbury (GBR) vs. R. Bopanna (IND) / J. Murray (GBR)

Not before 1:30 p.m.
A. Davidovich Fokina (ESP) vs. G. Dimitrov (BUL)

Not before 3:30 p.m.
[2] A. Zverev (GER) vs. [3] S. Tsitsipas (GRE)
[6] J. Cabal (COL) / R. Farah (COL) vs. [8] M. Arevalo (ESA) / J. Rojer (NED)

On a day of thrillers at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, the best was saved until last when Stefanos Tsitsipas edged Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-4 in an epic clash under the floodlights on Court Rainier III.

In a classic quarter-final match that swung one way and then another, Tsitsipas squandered a 5-2 lead in the second set, before rallying from 0-4 in the decider to triumph after two hours and 45 minutes on Friday.

“There was a moment in the match where I felt what I was doing wasn’t working,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview. “He had a massive lead and momentum in what he was trying to do. I just tried to stay in the match as much as I could and that worked out very well. I wasn’t expecting much at that point being a double break down, so I relaxed at that point.”

Both hit aggressively throughout as they entertained the raucous crowd on Court Rainier III with their shotmaking and agility. Tsitsipas looked down and out at 0-4 in the third set after losing nine out of 10 games from 5-2 up in the second set. However, the World No. 5 then started to find his rhythm once again, hitting with greater width and topspin once again to triumph.

“It was extremely close,” Tsitsipas said. “I was really close in the second set. That was the moment I had a big chance to close it out but Diego is Diego and I had to be Stefanos in the third set.”

According to Tennis Data Innovation’s Balance of Power, the Greek hit 22% of his shots in the match from offensive positions, compared to 14% for Schwartzman. Tsitsipas’ ability to get on the front foot paid dividends throughout the match, but never more so than in his late charge. (Learn more about Balance of Power.)

Tsitsipas is now two wins away from retaining his title in Monte Carlo, after he clinched his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown at the event last year. The World No. 5 ruthlessly dispatched 2019 champion Fabio Fognini and Serbian Laslo Djere in his opening two matches and will compete in his ninth semi-final at this level on Saturday.

With his victory, the 23-year-old has levelled his ATP Head2Head series with Schwartzman at 2-2 and will next play Alexander Zverev after the German edged Jannik Sinner 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(5).

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Tsitsipas is aiming to win his first title since he captured the crown in Lyon last May. His best result this season came in Rotterdam, where he enjoyed a run to the final before losing to Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The third seed made a fast start, racing into a 5-0 lead as he had success on return, taking heavy cuts at the ball to pin Schwartzman deep behind the baseline. Tsitsipas dictated the backhand exchanges as he caused the Argentine problems with his heavy topspin.

After moving ahead, Tsitsipas continued to play with high intensity as he gained the crucial break in the fourth game to gain further control. However, from 2-5 Schwartzman battled back to 5-5 as Tsitsipas’ level dipped under pressure. The World No. 16 sensed his chance and played a faultless tie-break to level the match.

Schwartzman then soared into a 4-0 lead in the deciding set, but Tsitsipas would not be denied, storming back as he regained his focus and top level to triumph in one of the matches of the season.

Earlier on Friday Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina eliminated Taylor Fritz in the three sets, while Grigor Dimitrov overcame Hubert Hurkacz in another match that went the distance.

Schwartzman was aiming to reach his first Masters 1000 semi-final, having reached the last four on the clay in Rome in 2019 and 2020.

In Friday’s marquee quarter-final at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner lived up to the billing and then some by producing a Monaco classic over the course of three hours and seven minutes.

In a back-and-forth contest that saw 10 breaks of serve, Zverev finished strongest in a 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(5) victory to reach his second Monte Carlo semi-final.

“It means a lot, definitely, especially [with] how this year has been going so far for me,” said Zverev after his marathon win. “I’ve lost long matches like that, so I’m happy I won this one.”

The high level of play throughout the match belied the physical knocks both players battled through — Sinner with a foot blister and Zverev with a right thigh problem. Despite both men looking uneasy at times in between points, there was no let-up when the ball was in play as both combined big power with exceptional angles and touch in a thoroughly entertaining contest.

Zverev, who had not dropped a set until this quarter-final, continues to take advantage of his opportunity to close the gap on Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev atop the ATP Rankings. The World No. 3 can close to within 235 points of World No. 1 Djokovic with the title in Monte Carlo.

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Early breaks of serve were erased in all three sets, with Sinner coming from behind to take the opener and Zverev returning the favour in set two. The German was twice pegged back in the third, and forced a decisive tie-break after missing out on a break point at 5-5.

In the face of tremendous crowd support for his opponent, Zverev edged a 7/5 tie-break in which half of the points went against serve, roaring with delight when a Sinner backhand found the net on match point.

The German was delighted to come out on top in a see-saw battle as he hunts a first title of 2022. “I’ve lost so many matches [like that] this year,” he said. “I guess it’s in the back of my mind and I think this one will definitely help.”

Sinner was previously six-for-six in decisive sets on the 2022 ATP Tour season, and seven-for-seven in tie-breaks.

It looked like the Italian could wrap the match up in two sets after he scored an early break in the second. But after Sinner began to lose the positional battle and fell back beyond the baseline, Zverev suddenly became the aggressor. Once the match turned, Sinner’s dogged defense was not enough to halt the second seed’s relentless charge.

Zverev now awaits the winner of defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas’ matchup with Deigo Schwartzman.

Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah surged to their first semi-final of the 2022 season by halting Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters title defence in the quarter-finals on Friday.

A break in each set was enough for the Colombian duo to secure a 6-4, 6-4 victory on Court des Princes as they reached a third semi-final at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Cabal and Farah came into Monte Carlo with a 5-7 record for the year but the former top-ranked pairing have looked back to their best in Monaco this week. They offered up no break point opportunities to Mektic and Pavic and won 81 per cent (30/37) of points behind their first delivery in the match, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

It was the second tour-level meeting between the two teams, with Cabal and Farah also defeating the Croatians in straight sets in the final of the 2021 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The Colombian duo now faces either eighth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer or wild card pairing Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals.

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Top seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury stayed on track in their bid for a maiden title in Monte Carlo with a comfortable 6-4, 6-3 win over Tim Puetz and Michael Venus.

The American-British pairing is chasing a second Masters 1000 title after lifting the trophy at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto in 2021. The world’s top-ranked team seeks to celebrate Joe Salisbury’s first tournament at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings with the Monte Carlo crown, which would be the pair’s maiden tour-level title on clay.

Their next opponents will be Rohan Bopanna and Jamie Murray, who held their nerve to come through two dramatic tie-breaks and upset third seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos earlier on Friday.

The Indian-British team won Match Tie-breaks in its opening two rounds in Monte Carlo and proved their mettle once again in the quarter-finals against four-time Masters 1000 champions Granollers and Zeballos. Bopanna and Murray saved two set points in each Tie-break to clinch a 7-6(8), 7-6(8) victory and book a semi-final appointment with the top seeds.

“It all starts from Monte Carlo.”

When Stefanos Tsitsipas lifted his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title at the 2021 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, the Greek had a feeling that things had come full circle.

“My mum won the ladies tournament in Monte Carlo when she was 16 or 17 years old, and it was a big one for her,” the Greek recently told ATP Uncovered. “So, [the Monte Carlo Country Club] meant a lot to me. Getting that win in Monte Carlo was incredible for so many reasons, mostly because of my mum, but also because I first came there when I was six years old.

“It just means something extra when you’re stepping out on that Monte Carlo court. You can feel its legacy.”

Tsitsipas had impressed in the early stages of 2021, reaching the championship match in Acapulco and the semi-finals at the Australian Open and in Rotterdam, but he arrived in Monte Carlo still hunting a first title of the year. Those results were nonetheless enough to give him belief that he could go deep in the Principality.

“I was excited walking into the clay-court season with a lot of confidence and knowing that I can pull good things off,” he said. “I very much remember how I was trying to enjoy the process of it and not focus too much on the destination.”

Tsitsipas had not been past the third round in his two previous appearances in Monte Carlo, but he enjoyed a dream week as he roared to the title without dropping a set.

“It was a tournament where I felt like I was at home and every single day seemed to get better than the one before,” said Tsitsipas. “I was on a good run. I was feeling good with my game, and I was feeling like I can utilize all of my weapons and take advantage of my best strokes. And it kind of seemed to be working day after day.”

Tsitsipas saw off Aslan Karatsev, Cristian Garin and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina before taking out Daniel Evans, the Brit who had stunned top seed Novak Djokovic in the third round, to reach a third Masters 1000 final.

His opponent in the championship match was sixth seed Andrey Rublev, with both men seeking a maiden Masters 1000 crown. The Russian could not cope with Tsitsipas, however, as the Greek broke three times on his way to a 6-3, 6-3 victory.

“I knew that I was going to have to put out my best tennis against him because we both deserved our spot in the final,” said Tstisipas. “I was trying to stay as much as I could in the rallies, and I honestly couldn’t believe at the end how much my efforts paid off.

“It was a very good finish with my family being there and being very emotional at the end.”

Grigor Dimitrov continues to look comfortable on the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters clay.

The Bulgarian kept his focus to clinch a dramatic final set in a tie-break and upset Hubert Hurkacz on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 event for the second time.

The World No. 29 dug deep in the face of a strong comeback from 11th seed Hurkacz to clinch a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2) victory and reach an eighth Masters 1000 semi-final.

Dimitrov produced trademark moments of brilliance for an excited crowd on Court Rainier III, but was just as happy to do the dirty work against an opponent who particularly found his range in the second and third sets.

The win backs up Dimitrov’s impressive third-round win over clay-court tour de force Casper Ruud. He will now attempt to reach a third Masters 1000 championship match in a semi-final clash with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, after the Spaniard defeated Taylor Fritz 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 earlier on Friday.

Hurkacz came into the match off the back of impressive wins over renowned dirtballers Pedro Martinez and Albert Ramos-Vinolas, but the Pole struggled to settle in the first set against Dimitrov. The Bulgarian took full advantage, pulling his opponent around the court to great effect and sealing the only break of the set to love in the third game.

World No. 11 Hurkacz found a much higher level in the second frame. The Pole broke for 4-2 and sealed the set with consecutive drop shots that caught his opponent off-guard.

Neither player gave an inch in a tense deciding set and the pair exchanged breaks twice, but it was Dimitrov who found something extra at the death. The Bulgarian hit with variety in the tie-break to force a frustrated Hurkacz into a series of errors as the 2017 Western & Southern Open champion clinched victory in two hours, 27 minutes.

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The pair’s sole previous tour-level meeting had also been a Masters 1000 quarter-final decided with a final-set tie-break, Dimitrov also prevailing on that occasion at the 2021 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. With the win, Dimitrov moves to a 20-8 record at the Monte Carlo event. Four of his defeats in the Principality have come against 11-time champion Rafael Nadal.

If Dimitrov reaches the final he should reclaim a spot in the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings on Monday, with the former World No. 3 already projected to rise to No. 23 following his win over Hurkacz.