Novak Djokovic advanced to the French Open quarter-finals for the 14th consecutive year on Sunday as world number one Carlos Alcaraz beat Lorenzo Musetti to stay in contention for the 22-time Grand Slam champion.
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Third seed Djokovic ended the surprise run of Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas, who won 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, and has yet to drop a set in four matches.
The Serb, chasing a third Roland Garros crown, is in a record 17th French Open quarter-final after reaching the last eight of a major for the 55th time.
“I’m proud of it, but my attention is already in the next match,” said Djokovic, who will face Russian 11th seed Karen Khachanov for a place in the semi-finals, where Alcaraz can wait.
“I know what my goal is here. I try to stay on the mental course and of course not look too far.
“Obviously today’s performance gave me a lot of confidence in how I feel, in terms of my playing.”
Varillas, 27, is the first player from Peru to reach the second week of a Grand Slam since Jaime Yzaga made the quarter-finals of the US Open 29 years ago.
Djokovic raced 4-0 ahead in the opening set only to be broken by Varillas in the next game and then had a chance to return to serve in the seventh game.
But when Djokovic was able to hold on for a 5-2 lead, it was clearly sailing for him as he closed out the win in just over two hours.
Khachanov made his third straight Grand Slam quarter-final after recovering from a poor start to beat Lorenzo Sonego 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9/7), 6-1.
Djokovic holds an 8-1 record against Khachanov, having won their first meeting at the 2020 French Open.
Alcaraz looked every bit the tournament favorite as he dismantled the talented Musetti in straight sets to return to the French Open last eight.
Musetti didn’t lose a set in three rounds but Alcaraz brushed aside the Italian 17th seed in almost two hours, winning 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to avenge last year’s loss on the soil of Hamburg final.
“I think I played such a great level, really high quality of shots. I played a really complete match from the first ball until the last and I’m pretty happy to get through this tough round,” said Alcaraz.
The 20-year-old faces a tough next task in 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was beaten by Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner 7-5, 6-3, 6-0.
“The match we all expected,” said Tsitsipas, the Greek fifth seed who has lost all four meetings with Alcaraz. “I think everyone was looking forward to it, right? And here it is. It’s game on.”
Sabalenka tries but continues
Aryna Sabalenka defeated 2018 finalist Sloane Stephens 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in a topsy-turvy encounter in the night session — the first women’s match to appear in the primetime slot this year.
Australian Open champion Sabalenka raced to a 5-0 lead in the opener but Stephens saved four set points as she reeled off five games to bounce back to level.
Second seed Sabalenka eventually prevailed in the tie-break and held off Stephens again in a tight second set to continue her best run in Paris.
The Belarusian dueled the politician against Elina Svitolina who, playing in her first Grand Slam since becoming a mother, reached the quarter-finals for the fourth time.
The Ukrainian beat Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) for her seventh win in seven meetings against the Russian semi-finalist last year.
As in all her matches, Svitolina chose not to shake hands with her Russian opponent in protest of the war in Ukraine. Belarus is also an important military ally of Moscow.
Kasatkina still gave her opponent a friendly thumbs-up.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 2021 runner-up, rallied from a set down and a breakdown down to overcome Belgian 28th seed Elise Mertens 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
The Russian, whose ranking dropped to 333 after a serious knee injury, is the lowest-ranked Grand Slam quarter-finalist in the history of the tournament.
Pavlyuchenkova will face Karolina Muchova for a place in the last four after the Czech defeated lucky loser Elina Avanesyan 6-4, 6-3.
(AFP)
