Novak Djokovic passes Nadal for most Masters 1000 semifinals with latest win in Monte Carlo

Novak Djokovic has been the most successful player at Masters 1000 events since that level of tournament began in 1990—not only does he hold the record for most career Masters 1000 titles with 40 (Rafael Nadal is next with 36), but he also holds the record for most Masters 1000 finals reached with 58 (Nadal is next with 53).

And with his win over Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals of Monte Carlo today, he takes that statistical domination to another level.

Djokovic has broken the record for most Masters 1000 semifinals reached, as well, with 77 now—surpassing Nadal’s 76.

MOST MASTERS 1000 SEMIFINALS (since 1990):
77: Novak Djokovic
76: Rafael Nadal
66: Roger Federer
33: Andy Murray
32: Andre Agassi
31: Pete Sampras
20: Andy Roddick

The icing on the cake: Djokovic also has the best career winning percentage in Masters 1000 history, his latest victory moving him to 82.24% (403-87). Nadal is next with 82.17% (406-88).

De Minaur had beaten Djokovic in United Cup this year, and he didn’t make this one easy either. Not only did Djokovic need four set points to close out the 66-minute first set, but there were actually six breaks of serve in a row at one point in the second set.

But Djokovic came through when it mattered most—breaking in the last game of the first set, and in the final game of the match—to prevail, 7-5, 6-4, after two hours and four minutes on court.

With two of the fastest players in the sport, winners were hard to come by on Friday—Djokovic finished with 13 winners to 26 unforced errors, while De Minaur had 19 winners to 28 unforced errors—but Djokovic was just that much better on generating and capitalizing on break points, converting 5/11 while De Minaur went 3/7.

“I’m very happy to be back in the semis. It’s been a while,” said Djokovic, who last made the semis here in 2015—and won the title.

“I love this tournament. I know this club very well. I’ve been training so many years here. Last seven, eight years has been quite tough, I must say, for me to win two or three matches consecutively here, but here we are—another semis, and I look forward to it.”

And one more record Djokovic set with his latest victory in Monte Carlo—at 36, he’s now the oldest player to reach the semifinals at the event in the Open Era, surpassing the previous record that belonged to Nicola Pietrangeli, who achieved the feat at 35 in 1969.