World number one Novak Djokovic has reached his 16th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final while seven-time champion Rafael Nadal marked his 27th birthday by also reaching the French Open last eight.
Top seed Djokovic carved out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over 16th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber with the German paying a high price for converting just two of 13 break points.
World number one Djokovic goes on to face German 35-year-old Tommy Haas, who became the third oldest man to reach the last-eight with a comfortable 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 win over volatile Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
Nadal, bidding to become the first man to win the same Grand Slam title eight times, trounced Japanese 13th seed Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.
It was third-seeded Nadal’s 56th win in 57 career matches at Roland Garros.
The defending champion next faces Swiss ninth seed Stanislas Wawrinka who reached his first French Open quarter-final, beating French seventh seed Richard Gasquet, 6-7 (5/7), 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 8-6.
“I needed to earn my victory, and in the end it was good. I’m really glad to get through, because he’s a good quality opponent and he’s a specialist for this surface,” said Djokovic of Kohlschreiber.
On facing 12th-seeded Haas, against whom he has a 4-3 winning record, the Serb said: “I have a lot of respect for Tommy. He is playing well.”
You might like
Djokovic, the runner-up to Nadal last year, needs a French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam.
The last time he failed to reach the last-eight of a major was in Paris in 2009 when he lost in the fourth round to Monday’s opponent.
Nadal arrived in Paris having collected six titles in eight finals since his return from a seven-month injury lay-off.
But he was sluggish in the first week of a cold and damp Paris, losing the opening set of his first two matches.
Since the weather has improved, so has the Spaniard, seeing off Fabio Fognini in straight sets on Saturday and then comfortably defeating Nishikori, the first Japanese man in the fourth round since Fumiteru Nakano in 1938.
“It’s a very special moment,” said Nadal, as the crowd welcomed him to Court Philippe Chatrier by singing Happy Birthday and repeating it on the match’s conclusion.
“Today I think I played my best match of the tournament.”
Nadal was presented with a giant birthday cake and he will be looking for more celebrations on Wednesday in the quarter-finals as he holds a 9-0 career lead over Wawrinka.
Haas became the first German in 17 years to reach the quarter-finals and the oldest man to make the last eight at any Grand Slam since Andre Agassi at the 2005 US Open.
Haas had also made history in the third round when he needed a record 13 match points to beat John Isner.
Stay informed, daily
“It was a pretty good performance. I was broken in the first game but I got my bearings, got into the groove,” said Haas.
Only Pancho Gonzales, who was over 40 when he made the last eight in 1968, and 39-year-old Istvan Gulyas in 1971, have got this far in the tournament at Haas’s age.
In the women’s draw defending champion Maria Sharapova has joined third seed Victoria Azarenka in the quarter-finals as both posted routine fourth round wins.
Sharapova was all business in seeing off American 17th seed Sloane Stephens 6-4, 6-3 to set up a meeting with either Serbian 18th seed Jelena Jankovic or US hope Jamie Hampton, while double Australian Open champion Azarenka swamped 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-0.
Sharapova, who in beating Sara Errani in last year’s final became the sixth player in the Open era to complete a full collection of Grand Slams, was rarely troubled by Stephens, Australian Open semi-finalist last January, the Floridian 20-year-old gifting her a final break by hitting long on match point.
“I knew this was going to be a really hard match so I’m delighted to be in the quarter-final,” said Sharapova, who now has an extra day to relax.
“Am I pleased to have finished my match a day before my next opponent? We don’t choose the scheduling, it just depends how it goes. I’m just pleased to be through to the next round.”
Next up for Azarenka is a meeting with Russian 12th seed and erstwhile doubles partner Maria Kirilenko after her win over Schiavone moved her into the last eight for the third time in Paris.
The protagonists notably paired up at the 2011 Australian Open, where they finished runners-up. Then they were rivals as Azarenka won their London Olympics bronze medal encounter last summer.
Azarenka was delighted with her form, given that the French Open is the only Grand Slam where she has failed to get beyond the quarter-finals having been beaten at the last-eight stage by Dinara Safina in 2009 and by eventual champion Li Na two years later.
“I think it was the most composed and the most consistent match so far,” she said.
“The beginning was back and forth. I feel like I didn’t take all of the opportunities but there was kind of a build-up to later on that I was doing the right thing.”
Kirilenko, who had treatment for a sore shoulder, saw off unseeded Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States 7-5, 6-4 to reach the last eight at Roland Garros for the first time after recovering from losing the opening three games.
The 26-year-old from Moscow, who broke in the sixth and eighth games to make up for her slow start and then overcame an opening service loss at the start of the second set, has now equalled her best ever Grand Slam showing of runs to the quarters at Wimbledon 2012 and the Australian Open three seasons ago.
Azarenka has a 3-2 winning record against Kirilenko — who won the first two matches of their series although her last triumph was back in 2007.
“Maria, I played her a lot of times. I think the last time we played was the Olympics. She’s definitely improved a lot over the last couple years since she’s a very motivated player (and a) good friend of mine, also,” said Azarenka.
Want to see more stories from InDaily SA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily SA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily SA". That's it.
