Djokovic, 36, made his 77th ATP Masters 1000 semi-final appearance this afternoon but it wasn’t meant to be for the Serb after an intense final set saw Norwegian Ruud edge past the former to earn his place in the final.
Ruud — seeded world number eight — stormed ahead to claim the first set against Djokovic, who was yet to concede a set all tournament.
Djokovic fought back valiantly to claim the second set against Ruud, conceding only one game throughout the set.
A pulsating final set saw the Serb fight back to 4-5, but his double fault at match point saw Ruud beat a top three ranked player for the first time in his career.
The world number one admitted after his quarter-final win over Lorenzo Musetti on Thursday that he felt he was not performing at his “top level”.
Meanwhile, Casper Ruud will face off against Stefanos Tsitsipas following the latter’s 6-4 3-6 6-4 victory over Italian Jannik Sinner.
Greek international and two-time Monte Carlo champion Tsitsipas earnt his place in the Monte Carlo Masters final after the match swung his direction following a incorrect call from the line judge which halted Sinner’s chances of a double break at 3-1.
The judge failed to call Tsitsipas’ shot as out, a decision which ultimately halted Sinner in his tracks as Tsitsipas went on to win four games in a row against the world number two, who never seemed to recover psychologically.
“It was tennis at its highest level that I have been able to play,” said Tsitsipas.
He is one of the toughest opponents I have faced so far and to find ways when there weren’t that many, I am proud of that. He gave me a very difficult game and [the] way I overcame it is true excellence.”
Ruud will battle it out on the clay against Tsitsipas in the Monte Carlo Masters final, which will take place tomorrow at 14:00 and will surely be a thrilling curtain closer to the competition.
