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Valentin Vacherot’s rapid rise continued with a home semi-final berth after defeating Alex de Minaur in Monte Carlo.

Alex de Minaur has suffered another narrow defeat on a big stage, falling short in a three-set loss to Monaco's Valentin Vacherot, whose rapid rise continued with a place in the Monte Carlo Masters semi-finals.

The world No.6 was beaten 6-4 3-6 6-3 at the Monte Carlo Country Club on Friday, despite appearing to regain control midway through the contest. De Minaur had absorbed early pressure from the aggressive Vacherot and worked his way back into the match, only for the home favourite to produce a decisive late surge in a contest lasting two hours and 24 minutes.

Backed by a vocal home crowd that included family and long-time supporters, Vacherot held firm under pressure. De Minaur saved two match points with drop shots in the final game, but the Monegasque sealed victory with a forehand return winner that proved out of reach.

The result continues a remarkable run for Vacherot, who was ranked No.285 in the world a year ago and has surged through the rankings in the past six months. His breakthrough began at the Shanghai Masters in October, where he entered as an alternate qualifier and advanced unexpectedly.

Vacherot now joins a semi-final line-up featuring the world's top three players, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev. He is set to face Alcaraz next, with the Spaniard advancing after a dominant 6-3 6-0 win over Alexander Bublik, marking his 300th tour-level victory in just 367 matches. Only Rod Laver and Jimmy Connors reached that milestone faster in the Open era.

Sinner also progressed, defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3 6-4 to record a 20th consecutive Masters 1000 win. The Italian joins Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic as the only players to achieve that streak.

He will meet Zverev in the other semi-final after the German overcame Brazil's Joao Fonseca in three sets, 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 6-3.