Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced to the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters semi-finals on Friday when his opponent, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, was forced to retire due to injury.

After the fourth seed clinched the first set 7-5 on Court Rainier III, Davidovich Fokina called time on the quarter-final clash. The Spaniard took a medical timeout at 3-3 to receive treatment to his left quadricep.

“I am happy to be at the place where I am right now… I am happy with my performance today. I think I fought really hard. Even in difficult moments, I was putting out my best tennis,” Tsitsipas said in his post-match interview. “I saw he got injured in the middle of the first set and I took advantage of it [and] tried to make him play.

It wasn’t easy, of course. There were certain moments which were a bit tricky and uncertain, but I stayed composed and imposed my game later in that match.”Tsitsipas is through to his sixth Masters 1000 semi-final. The Greek has now advanced to the final four at all three clay-court Masters 1000 events, following his runs to the Mutua Madrid Open final and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia semi-finals in 2019.

Tsitsipas will face Daniel Evans for a spot in the championship match. The British No. 1 backed up his straight-sets victory against Novak Djokovic with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 comeback win against 11th seed David Goffin. Tsitsipas is unbeaten in two matches against Evans

Davidovich Fokina was appearing in his first Masters 1000 quarter-final. The 21-year-old earned straight-sets wins against Alex de Minaur, eighth seed Matteo Berrettini and Lucas Pouille to reach the last eight in the Principality.

“[Alejandro] is a player that has been doing really well and has a big game,” said Tsitsipas. “He proved himself this week in Monte-Carlo, beating good opponents.”