IT was arguably the most shocking day of results in many years, and certainly of 2020 with the ATP Madrid Masters fantasy tennis quarter finals stunning the Spanish crowds. The four underdogs won each match, with the top three players in the world – and three favourites for the title – all bundled out in an amazing day of results.

The biggest shock was unseeded Chilean Cristian Garin downing clay court champion Rafael Nadal in three tight sets. In a match that lasted two hours and 48 minutes, the clay court specialist showed he is a player of the future with a 6-4 3-6 6-4 victory over Nadal. The world number two would have headed in knowing how dangerous Garin can be, but the usually solid Nadal has not had too many problems in the past. On the day though, the South American proved to be too strong at his best.

Garin now takes on British qualifier Andy Murray who downed 16th seed Stan Wawrinka in an equally close contest. That match lasted two and a half hours as the two power players went toe-to-toe for the most part before Murray broke late in the deciding set to gain some separation and win 6-4 4-6 6-4 to advance through to the semi-finals.

In the other half of the draw, the results were just as shocking, but the winners ranked higher. Sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas put the disappointment of his second round defeat at Estoril last week behind him to stun Austrian clay court stay Dominic Thiem in straight sets. In the quickest match of the day, the Greek up and comer won in just 92 minutes and sent Thiem packing. The win also set up a meeting with seventh seed German Alexander Zverev.

Zverev earned his place in the semi-finals by taking down top seed Novak Djokovic in a stunning come-from-behind victory. The German world number seven had to fight back from a first set loss to win 1-6 6-3 7-5, with the last three games of the match to send him into the final four. The result capped off a remarkable day of action and completed the four upsets making it an interesting and unpredictable pair of semi-finals.

Tomorrow’s semis begin with Garin and Murray before Tsitsipas and Zverev take centre stage to determine the 2020 Madrid Masters finalists.

QUARTER FINALS RESULTS:

[7] Alexander Zverev (GER) defeated [1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) 1-6 6-3 7-5
Cristian Garin (CHI) defeated [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6-4 3-6 6-4
[6] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) defeated [3] Dominic Thiem (AUT) 6-1 6-3
[Q] Andy Murray (GBR) defeated [16] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 6-4 4-6 6-4