By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday April 12, 2024
Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic remain on collision course in Monte-Carlo, with only two players standing in their way.
After a thrilling day of tennis (and another day of blue skies) in the Principality, the semifinals are set at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.
With that in mind, let’s look back at today’s quarterfinals and look ahead to the semis, By the Numbers…
77 – By defeating Alex de Minaur, 7-5, 6-4, on Friday, Novak Djokovic moves into first place on the all-time Masters 1000 semifinal list with 77. He passes Rafael Nadal at the top of the list.
36 – Djokovic also becomes the oldest semifinalist in Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters history, as he surpasses Italian legend Nicola Pietrangeli, who reached the semis in 1969 at the age of 35.
Roger Federer, who reached five Masters semifinals at the age of 37, is the only player who has achieved a masters semifinal (five times) at an age beyond Djokovic’s current 36 years and 10 months.
45-3 – Jannik Sinner’s record since last September! The Italian, who stretched his winning streak to nine on Friday with a win over Holger Rune, will face Stefanos Tsitsipas for a spot in the final on Saturday.
Sinner is into his eighth Masters 1000 semifinal, and toting a record of 25-1 on the season…
2 – The Italian locks down his No.2 ranking for at least another week by reaching the semifinals. If he had lost on Friday, Carlos Alcaraz would have risen to No.2.
6-0 – Casper Ruud remained perfect in Masters 1000 quarterfinals on clay with a three-set victory over Ugo Humbert (6-3, 4-6, 6-1). The Norwegian will take a shot at the crown on Saturday, against World No.1 Novak Djokovic. He has lost all five previous meetings and all 11 previous sets against Djokovic (last meeting: 2023 Roland-Garros final).
2015 – 24-time Slam champion and 40-time Masters 1000 title winner (and 58-time Masters finalist) Djokovic reaches his first Monte-Carlos semifinal since 2015, when he won his second of two career titles.
18-3 – The lifetime record of Stefanos Tsitsipas at Monte-Carlo. The Greek rocked past Karen Khachanov 6-4, 6-2 on Friday - he has not dropped a set this week, and heads into his showdown with Sinner holding a 5-3 lifetime record against Sinner.
The Italian has won the pair’s last two meetings, however.
9 – By winning the second set against Sinner in a tiebreak, Dane Holger Rune stretched his run of consecutive tiebreaks won to nine. He has not dropped a tiebreak set since his loss to Arthur Cazaux at this year’s Australian Open.