MONTE CARLO, Monaco – Albert Ramos-Vinolas scored his second upset at the Monte Carlo Masters as the 15th seed beat fifth seed Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 on Friday.
After dumping out world number one Andy Murray in the third round the day before, the diminutive Spaniard returned to knock-out mode as he tamed Cilic to surge into the first Masters 1000 semi-final of his career.
Cilic led their series 3-1 going in, but the Croatian fell victim to a few dozen forehand errors as his big game never truly gained traction in the battle over two and a half hours on the Monte Carlo clay.
In later quarter-finals at the Roland Garros warm-up event, second seed Novak Djokovic faces Belgian David Goffin, while Rafael Nadal continues his bid for a record 10th title at the tournament, playing Argentine Diego Schwartzman.
The victors of those respective quarter-final clashes will face off in the semis, while Ramos-Vinolas will play the winner of Pablo Cuevas vs Lucas Pouille.
BIG win for @albertramos88💪🇪🇸
Into his 1st Masters semi-final #MCROLEXMASTERS pic.twitter.com/Myekbi4u0B
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 21, 2017