Tsitsipas, 5th in the world, could be satisfied after being hooked by the Serb Laslo Djere (62nd) 7-5, 7-6 (7/1).

"We had to play a great match, he said after almost two hours of arm wrestling. Laslo did not make it easy for me to win, but I tried to stay 100% focused" until the end .

"The tie break was very important and I am happy to have been able to produce this level of tennis", added the Greek who will face Friday for a place in the last four the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman (16th), winner of the Italian Lorenzo Musetti (83rd) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Last year, Tsitsipas won his first, and only to date, Masters 1000 category tournament in Monte-Carlo. A few weeks later, he made it to the Roland-Garros final where he led two sets. zero against Novak Djokovic before losing.

To defend his title on Monegasque soil, the Greek will still have to beat Schwartzman then dismiss the winner of the other quarter at the bottom of the table which will oppose Jannik Sinner (12th) to Alexander Zverev (3rd).

Faults in spades

Sinner knocked out last edition runner-up Andrey Rublev (8th) 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.

In a match studded with unforced errors (a total of 43 for Sinner and 31 for Rublev), the Italian was more incisive when Rublev opened doors for him, especially on the Russian's second serve balls.

Russian Andrey Rublev greets the public at the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000 after his defeat by Jannik Sinner on April 14, 2022 Valery HACHE AFP

As a symbol, it was on a winning return on a second ball from Rublev that Sinner concluded the game.

"I tried to find a solution... in large part it was thanks to the support of the public," said Sinner, who compensated for his unforced errors with 40 winners (19 for Rublev).

He reached the quarter-finals of a Masters 1000 tournament for the third time after Miami last March and in 2021 when he reached the final.

On Friday, he will therefore face Zverev who got rid of the Spaniard Pablo Carreno (19th) 6-2, 7-5.

Alexander Zverev winner of Pablo Carreno in Monte-Carlo, April 14, 2022 Valery HACHE AFP

"I lost my service game at the start of each set, but quickly came back each time. I hope to continue playing like this," commented the German, Olympic champion in Tokyo.

Fritz survivor

At the top of the table, the first quarter could have offered a duel of generations between the record holder for weeks spent at the top of the world hierarchy (he started his 365th on Monday) Novak Djokovic and the young Carlos Alcaraz (11th) who is called to reign in the years to come.

But the Serb, victim of a violent and sudden drop in physical regimen, just like the Spaniard, who lacked play on clay after his exploits on hard courts in the United States (semi-final in Indian Wells and first title in Masters 1000 in Miami), were eliminated as soon as they entered the race in the second round.

So much so that Alejandro Davidovich (46th), who defeated Djokovic then the Belgian David Goffin (47th) will face off Thursday 6-4, 6-1, and Taylor Fritz (13th) who had almost been taken out in the first round by the 430th in the world, the Monegasque Lucas Catarina.

In the 8th round, the American dominated 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 his compatriot and doubles partner Sebastian Korda (42nd), winner of Alcaraz.

Fritz, 24, and Korda, 21, were the first two Americans to simultaneously reach the round of 16 on clay in Monte Carlo since Jimmy Arias and Aaron Krickstein in 1987.

35 years ago, Arias defeated Krickstein and reached the final.

The last quarter-final will pit Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (29th), winner of Norwegian Casper Ruud (7th) 6-3, 7-5, against Pole Hubert Hurkacz (14th), who dismissed the 2017 finalist, the Spaniard Albert Ramos (17th) 7-6 (7/2), 6-2.

© 2022 AFP