• The Spaniard, who stunned Novak Djokovic in the second round, has now reached his first Masters semi-final


Alejandro Davidovich Fokina reached his first Masters semi-final yesterday adding Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz to his high profile scalps this week with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win in Monte Carlo which set up a clash with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
The 22-year-old Spaniard, ranked 46th in the world, ousted world number one Novak Djokovic in the second round.
Today, he will play Dimitrov, who battled past Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), for a place in the final.
“When you beat the world number one it gives you a lot of confidence physically, mentally and technically,” said Davidovich Fokina.
“I am pushing myself every match to play harder and harder.”
Fritz had problems even in the first set as his Spanish opponent piled on the pressure - the American complaining of stomach pains twice before receiving treatment from a doctor courtside.
The 10th-seeded American, who ended Rafael Nadal’s unbeaten start to the season to lift his maiden Masters trophy in Indian Wells in March, nevertheless secured the first set with a second break of serve. Davidovich Fokina battled back and levelled the match with his first set point when Fritz, surprised at the Spaniard retrieving a smash, sent his shot out.
A netted smash from Fritz gave Davidovich Fokina two match points, the first of which was saved but the Spaniard made no mistake with the second, hitting a sublime right-handed winner.
“The emotions to be in the semi-finals are so high,” said Davidovich Fokina, who reached the Monte Carlo quarter-finals last year.
“I am enjoying every point. In the first set I had a lot of chances to break but I didn’t do it. But I just stayed focused and believed in myself.”
Davidovich Fokina beat Dimitrov in their only previous meeting on clay in Rome last year.
Dimitrov sealed victory in a thrilling final set tie-break to reach the last four in Monte Carlo for the second time after 2018.
The Bulgarian secured the only break of the first set to love in the third game and held his advantage with 11th-ranked Hurkacz doing likewise in the second, breaking 4-2 with consecutive drop shots that caught his 29th-ranked opponent off-guard.
In a gripping third set, the Pole broke twice and was serving for the match at 5-4, but the former world number three clawed his way back, going on to dominate in two hours, 27 minutes to continue his push to reach a third Masters final.
Also yesterday, Alexander Zverev survived a first-set blip to break Jannik Sinner’s resilience and reach the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters with an epic 5-7 6-3 7-6(5) victory.
The German second seed struggled to stay focussed but eventually tamed his 20-year-old opponent in the deciding tiebreak.
Zverev, who battled for more than three hours with the ninth seed, will next meet either defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas or Argentine Diego Schwartzman.

EMMA Raducanu beats TEREZA Martincova
Emma Raducanu won on her Billie Jean King Cup debut to give Britain a crucial point in their qualifier against the Czech Republic with a hard-fought 7-5 7-5 win over Tereza Martincova in windy conditions in Prague yesterday.
US Open champion Raducanu, 19, was playing her first professional match on clay and gradually adjusted to the surface as she battled back in both sets to level the best-of-five tie after Harriet Dart lost 6-1 6-0 to Marketa Vondrousova.
Raducanu was trailing 4-5 and saved a set point before winning three games on the bounce to take the opening set. She then found herself 1-4 down but rallied to win six of the last seven games to close out the win.
“This one means so much to me because it is my first match in the Billie Jean King Cup and representing the team in my first match on clay,” said Raducanu, whose last match on clay was at the 2019 junior French Open.
“Playing on clay took some adjusting even now. With the wind and some tricky bounces, to adjust and adapt in the situation was very challenging but I’m proud of how I dug in.”
In her first match as world number one, Iga Swiatek helped Poland take a 2-0 lead over Romania with a dominant 6-1 6-0 victory over Mihaela Buzarnescu, hitting 16 winners to wrap up the victory in 55 minutes.
Earlier, Elena Rybakina dispatched Laura Siegemund 6-0 6-1 in just over an hour after Yulia Putintseva upset three-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber with a 3-6 6-3 6-2 comeback win to give Kazakhstan a 2-0 lead over Germany.