By Chris Oddo | Friday April 21, 2017
A pair of unlikely semifinalists will square off in the top half of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters draw on Saturday as Lucas Pouille and Albert Ramos-Vinolas both moved through Friday’s quarterfinals in three sets.
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Pouille battled back from a late deficit, rallying to win the final four games of his showdown with Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas to win 6-0, 3-6, 7-5.
Pouille reaches his second career Masters 1000 title and improves to 13-7 on the season (5-0 on clay).
Ramos-Vinolas backed up his upset of World No.1 Andy Murray with a 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-2 takedown of Marin Cilic. The Spaniard has won back-to-back matches against the Top 10 for the first time in his career and he improves to 5-26 lifetime against such players.
Ramos-Vinolas broke six times on 12 opportunities and won 60 percent of his second-serve return points to claim victory in two hours and 32 minutes.
Pouille and Ramos-Vinolas have split two previous meetings with the Spaniard winning their only encounter on clay.