Intro:

Top seed Novak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych and Gael Monfils all won through to the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters on Friday (17th April).

Script:

A near-flawless start saw world number one Novak Djokovic win the first eight games of his Monte Carlo Masters quarter-final against Marin Cilic.

Eighth seed Cilic raised a thumb in the air to celebrate holding serve for the first time, but Djokovic did not allow him a further foothold in the match, easing through to the semis with a 6-0, 6-3 victory in just over an hour.

Djokovic is on a 15-match winning steak after becoming the first player to complete a third Indian Wells-Miami sweep during the March Masters tournaments.

Elsehwere Frenchman Gael Monfils followed up his convincing win over Roger Federer in the previous round with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Grigor Dimitrov.

Dimitrov had also come into the match on good form, having swept past defending champion Stan Wawrinka for the loss of just three games.

But a spate of unforced errors - and moments of brilliance from Monfils - proved costly for Dimitrov.

The 14th seed swiftly established a 5-2 lead in the second set and went on to close out the victory in 58 minutes.

Monfils will face sixth seed Tomas Berdych in the last four, after he advanced to the semis for the third time when Milos Raonic retired with a foot injury when trailing 5-2 in the opening set.