Canadian wild card Vasek Pospisil reached his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final on Friday when Russian Nikolay Davydenko retired because of illness while trailing 3-0.

The unexpected turn of events in the quarter-final of the Montreal Masters continued a remarkable run of success for the host nation. Pospisil, ranked 71st in the world, now awaits the winner of a quarter-final clash between 11th-seeded compatriot Milos Raonic or Latvian Ernests Gulbis, who toppled Wimbledon champion Andy Murray.

In other quarter-finals, Spain’s fourth-seeded Rafael Nadal faces Australian qualifier Marinko Matosevic while top seeded and three-time Canadian champion Novak Djokovic takes on France’s Richard Gasquet.

Pospisil won a title on the low-level Challenger circuit last weekend in Vancouver, but has never been this far at an elite event.

He had reached the quarters with his first victory over a top-10 player, beating Tomas Berdych on Thursday.

He played a semi-final last month on clay in Bogota at a smaller ATP Tour event.