Ruud beats Djokovic to join Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo final

Norwegian Ruud, who had lost to Djokovic in all five of their previous matches, broke twice early in the first set before the Serbian record 24-time Grand Slam champion fought back strongly in the second.

Eighth seed Ruud held his nerve, however, as five unforced errors from Djokovic allowed him to go 3-0 up in the decider and he calmly closed out the victory.

"This is a day I will remember for a long time. Beating a world number one is something I have never done," Ruud said in a post-match interview.

"You know how good these guys are under pressure... he saved so many break points. I was praying, please, let it be a double fault or something. And maybe someone was listening."

It was a day for the underdogs, with the first semi-final being won by Tsitsipas, who upset world number two Jannik Sinner 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to hand the Italian just his second loss of the season.