Rublev will face Djokovic in the semifinals in Madrid

Russia's Andrey Rublev will play world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the €5.8 million Masters hardcourt tournament in Paris. In the late match of the quarterfinals, Rublev defeated Alex de Minor (Australia) 4:6, 6:3, 6:1 in just over two hours on court, the next one ending well after midnight local time.

The Russian improved to 8-4 in quarterfinals this season en route to his third ATP Masters 1000 semifinal of the year. This year's Monte Carlo champion, who also reached the final in Shanghai last month, is tied with Yannick Sinner with 21 wins for third place for the most Masters wins this year.

"I just had to keep fighting and try to be more aggressive. He was putting me under a lot of pressure. So I knew I had to make my shots and that's when it worked," Rublev said. Looking ahead to the match with Djokovic, the Russian joked when asked what he had learned from previous meetings with the world No. 1. He has one win in five matches against the Serb, but failed to win a set in their three hard-court matches. "I didn't learn . . . We'll see tomorrow if I learned anything," said Rublev.