<p>Rafael Nadal's bid for a 12th Monte Carlo Masters title was shattered by Russia's Andrey Rublev, who swept to a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 quarter-final win on Friday.</p>.<p>Nadal, bidding to reach the semi-finals of a Masters event for the 75th time, followed world number one Novak Djokovic, who was beaten in the third round, out of the tournament.</p>.<p>"It's always sad to lose here. I missed an opportunity to start the clay court season in the right way. But that's it. It's not the moment to complain," said Nadal.</p>.<p>"The only thing that I can do is go to Barcelona (where he plays next week) and keep practicing, try to fix the things that didn't work well."</p>.<p>Despite Friday's setback, 34-year-old Nadal will still be favourite to capture a 13th Roland Garros title in June and record-setting 21st major.</p>.<p>"For Rafa, it must be incredibly difficult to play with this pressure of always having to win," said Rublev who also made the Miami Masters semi-finals at the start of April.</p>.<p>"I'm shocked to see the level which he can reach despite this pressure. It's much easier to play when you have nothing to lose."</p>.<p>It was only the second time in 16 appearances in Monte Carlo that Nadal had failed to make the semi-finals.</p>.<p>World number eight Rublev will face unseeded Casper Ruud, who put out defending champion Fabio Fognini, for a place in the final.</p>.<p>The other semi-final will feature Greek fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas against Britain's Dan Evans, the man who shocked Djokovic in the third round.</p>.<p>Tsitsipas is the highest seed left after world number two Daniil Medvedev was forced to withdraw due to a positive Covid-19 test.</p>.<p>Rublev is no stranger to taking out the big names -- back in 2019, he stunned Roger Federer at Cincinnati in just 62 minutes.</p>.<p>On Friday, the 23-year-old won the first set in 38 minutes but Nadal then pocketed the last four games of the 73-minute second set to level the contest.</p>.<p>In the decider, Rublev held his nerve, breaking the Spaniard three times on his way to a famous win, his first in three meetings with Nadal.</p>.<p>Tsitsipas advanced to the last-four when Alejandro Davidovich withdrew after losing the first set 7-5.</p>.<p>Tsitsipas, the world number five, will play his sixth Masters 1000 semi-final on Saturday, and his first in the principality, against Evans, who battled past Belgian David Goffin 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.</p>.<p>Struggling with an injury to his left thigh, Spaniard Davidovich tried an underarm serve when facing set point.</p>.<p>Tsitsipas pounced to hit a winning backhand return with his opponent quitting after dropping the opener 7-5.</p>.<p>"I noticed he was hurt. His leg was hurting. But I didn't want to think about it, I tried to pretend he wasn't injured and keep playing as I was doing," said Tsitsipas.</p>.<p>Evans edged Goffin after the Belgian made 47 unforced errors, including a final forehand on match point, to win.</p>.<p>Goffin also only converted two of the 17 break points. Evans was not very effective either, but he did win four of the nine break points.</p>.<p>"I played good today. I felt a bit more pressure to not just win yesterday and give a bad performance today," said Evans, 30.</p>.<p>Unseeded Ruud won 6-4, 6-3 against 15th seeded Fognini, making the last four in Monte Carlo 24 years after his father Christian had reached the quarter-finals.</p>.<p>"Fabio can be very surprising. He can make winning points from anywhere on the court," said Ruud.</p>.<p>"So I'm happy to have remained focussed. We've both played better tennis in our lives, but in the end I managed to put in a few more balls than him and got the upper hand on key points."</p>
<p>Rafael Nadal's bid for a 12th Monte Carlo Masters title was shattered by Russia's Andrey Rublev, who swept to a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 quarter-final win on Friday.</p>.<p>Nadal, bidding to reach the semi-finals of a Masters event for the 75th time, followed world number one Novak Djokovic, who was beaten in the third round, out of the tournament.</p>.<p>"It's always sad to lose here. I missed an opportunity to start the clay court season in the right way. But that's it. It's not the moment to complain," said Nadal.</p>.<p>"The only thing that I can do is go to Barcelona (where he plays next week) and keep practicing, try to fix the things that didn't work well."</p>.<p>Despite Friday's setback, 34-year-old Nadal will still be favourite to capture a 13th Roland Garros title in June and record-setting 21st major.</p>.<p>"For Rafa, it must be incredibly difficult to play with this pressure of always having to win," said Rublev who also made the Miami Masters semi-finals at the start of April.</p>.<p>"I'm shocked to see the level which he can reach despite this pressure. It's much easier to play when you have nothing to lose."</p>.<p>It was only the second time in 16 appearances in Monte Carlo that Nadal had failed to make the semi-finals.</p>.<p>World number eight Rublev will face unseeded Casper Ruud, who put out defending champion Fabio Fognini, for a place in the final.</p>.<p>The other semi-final will feature Greek fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas against Britain's Dan Evans, the man who shocked Djokovic in the third round.</p>.<p>Tsitsipas is the highest seed left after world number two Daniil Medvedev was forced to withdraw due to a positive Covid-19 test.</p>.<p>Rublev is no stranger to taking out the big names -- back in 2019, he stunned Roger Federer at Cincinnati in just 62 minutes.</p>.<p>On Friday, the 23-year-old won the first set in 38 minutes but Nadal then pocketed the last four games of the 73-minute second set to level the contest.</p>.<p>In the decider, Rublev held his nerve, breaking the Spaniard three times on his way to a famous win, his first in three meetings with Nadal.</p>.<p>Tsitsipas advanced to the last-four when Alejandro Davidovich withdrew after losing the first set 7-5.</p>.<p>Tsitsipas, the world number five, will play his sixth Masters 1000 semi-final on Saturday, and his first in the principality, against Evans, who battled past Belgian David Goffin 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.</p>.<p>Struggling with an injury to his left thigh, Spaniard Davidovich tried an underarm serve when facing set point.</p>.<p>Tsitsipas pounced to hit a winning backhand return with his opponent quitting after dropping the opener 7-5.</p>.<p>"I noticed he was hurt. His leg was hurting. But I didn't want to think about it, I tried to pretend he wasn't injured and keep playing as I was doing," said Tsitsipas.</p>.<p>Evans edged Goffin after the Belgian made 47 unforced errors, including a final forehand on match point, to win.</p>.<p>Goffin also only converted two of the 17 break points. Evans was not very effective either, but he did win four of the nine break points.</p>.<p>"I played good today. I felt a bit more pressure to not just win yesterday and give a bad performance today," said Evans, 30.</p>.<p>Unseeded Ruud won 6-4, 6-3 against 15th seeded Fognini, making the last four in Monte Carlo 24 years after his father Christian had reached the quarter-finals.</p>.<p>"Fabio can be very surprising. He can make winning points from anywhere on the court," said Ruud.</p>.<p>"So I'm happy to have remained focussed. We've both played better tennis in our lives, but in the end I managed to put in a few more balls than him and got the upper hand on key points."</p>