Russia's Andrey Rublev shocked Spain's Rafael Nadal in three sets on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters.

Rublev defeated Nadal, an 11-time champion at the event, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in a match that lasted more than two-and-a-half hours to advance to the last four where he will face Casper Ruud.

Nadal had reached at least the semi-finals in 14 of his past 15 appearances in Monte-Carlo before Friday's match and held a 2-0 lead over Rublev in their ATP Head2Head.

Rublev raced into a 2-0 lead early on after Nadal lost serve in the opening game of the set only for the Spaniard to level it a 2-2 in the fourth game.

However, Nadal, uncharacteristically dropped serve in the fifth and seventh games and then failed to convert a break point in the eighth game which Rublev went on to take 6-2 winning his first set point.

Nadal, again, lost serve in the opening game of the second set and Rublev then went 3-1 up. Nadal then fought back and broke Rublev's serve twice in the eighth and tenth games to win the set 6-4 and take it to a decider.

Rublev stemmed the tide and broke Nadal’s serve thrice in the first five games to take a commanding 4-1 lead which he saw out converting his first match point to win the deciding set 6-2.

Rublev's stunning win saw him extend his record in 2021 to 22-0 when he won the opening set and ensure that a new ATP Masters 1000 champion in Monte-Carlo will be crowned.

The other semifinal will see Daniel Evans, conqueror of Novak Djokovic, face off against Stefanos Tsitsipas.

(With input from agencies)