Alcaraz fights back against Fils to reach Monte Carlo semis

Carlos Alcaraz battled back from a set down to beat French rising star Arthur Fils in a gripping Monte Carlo Masters quarter-final on Friday.

The four-time Grand Slam champion, targeting his first Masters title since winning in Indian Wells last year, saved three break points in the 11th game of the second set en route to a dramatic 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory.

"I think his level is high right now and he puts a lot of pressure on his opponents," Alcaraz said of his beaten opponent.

"Today I could feel it but in some moments he just made a few mistakes and I tried to make the most of those points and wait for my chances."

He will face unseeded fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Saturday for a place in the final.

Alcaraz's only title this season remains the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam in February but he appears to be enjoying his return to clay.

The 20-year-old Fils, seeded 12th, suffered a third successive quarter-final loss at Masters events this season after going out in the last eight at Indian Wells and the Miami Open.

Alcaraz is a strong favourite to lift the title after early exits for Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev, at an event where he had lost his only previous match in 2022.

He showed all of his battling qualities to get the better of Fils, in what is likely to have been their first meeting of many.

Fils made a flying start, reeling off the first three games of the match including two breaks of serve.

Alcaraz battled back to level at 4-4, pumping his fist after a break to love.

But he promptly lost his serve in the next game and Fils clinched a tense opening set, in which Alcaraz made 17 unforced errors, after saving two more break points.

A higher-quality second set stayed on serve until the 11th game, when Alcaraz hit a double-fault and then sent a groundstroke into the net to slip 0-40 down and to the brink of defeat.

But the second seed dug deep, pulling off a series of winners to save all three break points and edge 6-5 ahead.

Those missed opportunities appeared to take a toll on Fils, as he limply surrendered his serve and the second set in the following game.

The world number 15 bounced back quickly, breaking early in the decider and then holding from 15-40 down to move 3-1 in front.

Alcaraz fought back again, powering into a 5-3 lead, with Fils finally cracking following that crucial break -- smashing his racquet and earning a code violation.

Alcaraz secured a semi-final berth with his fifth consecutive game when Fils dumped a sliced backhand into the bottom of the net.

"I played well, but I lost my focus at some moments that I shouldn't have, and I didn't make it through," said Fils.

- De Minaur crushes Dimitrov -
Alex de Minaur produced a ruthless performance to dismantle an out-of-sorts Grigor Dimitrov 6-0, 6-0 in just 45 minutes, with the match finishing to a backdrop of boos from the crowd.

Dimitrov mustered just one winner in total, made 23 unforced errors and won only five points in the second set.

De Minaur, a quarter-finalist last year in the principality, will next face the winner of the last quarter-final between reigning champion Stefanos Tsitsipas and Italy's Lorenzo Musetti.

Earlier, Davidovich Fokina cruised into the semi-finals with a dominant victory over Alexei Popyrin.

World number 42 Davidovich Fokina, who was runner-up at the tournament in 2022 to Stefanos Tsitsipas, swatted aside Australia's Popyrin 6-3, 6-2 in the last eight.

Davidovich Fokina was full of confidence after dumping out British fifth seed Jack Draper in the last 16 and put on another accomplished display.