Romain Arneodo walked on court at his home tournament at the start of the week with just 54 dollars in prize money to his name for 2017. On Friday, he and doubles partner Hugo Nys ousted third seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 6-2, 6-7(3), 10-3 to reach the semi-finals of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, guaranteeing them to split at least 62,360 Euros.
Prior to the start of the tournament, 24-year-old Monegasque Arneodo was ranked No. 851 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings and had just three ATP World Tour doubles match wins to his name, which all came in Monte-Carlo. He reached the last eight in 2014 and the Round of 16 in 2014 (both times with compatriot Benjamin Balleret).
Arneodo and his French partner delighted their home crowd in reaching the last four as they go on to challenge Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas, who defeated top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers 3-6, 6-3, 13-11. The Indian/Uruguayan team saved four of the five break points they faced to advance in 72 minutes.
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Second seeds and defending champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut prevailed over sixth seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers 3-6, 6-4, 10-6. The French duo next faces Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez in the last four. The Spanish tandem, the seventh seeds, defeated No. 4 seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 6-2.