Casper Ruud stunned top seed Novak Djokovic 6-4 1-6 6-4 in a thrilling Monte Carlo Masters semifinal on Saturday, avenging his loss in last year’s French Open final to set up a title clash with twice champion Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Greek Tsitsipas upset second seed Jannik Sinner 6-4 3-6 6-4 in the first semifinal.
Norwegian Ruud, who had lost to Djokovic in all five of their previous matches, broke twice early in the first set before the Serbian record 24-times Grand Slam champion fought back strongly in the second.
Eighth seed Ruud held his nerve, however, as five unforced errors from Djokovic allowed him to go 3-0 up in the decider, and he calmly closed out the victory.
“This is a day I will remember for a long time. Beating a world number one is something I have never done,” Ruud said in a post-match interview.
“You know how good these guys are under pressure... he saved so many break points. I was praying, please, let it be a double fault or something. And maybe someone was listening.”
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