PARIS: Novak Djokovic swept into the French Open quarter-finals for the 14th straight year on Sunday as world number one Carlos Alcaraz breezed past Lorenzo Musetti to stay on a collision course with the 22-time Grand Slam champion.

Third seed Djokovic ended the surprise run of Peruvian outsider Juan Pablo Varillas, winning 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, and has yet to drop a set through four matches.

The Serb, chasing a third Roland Garros crown, is into a record 17th French Open quarter-final after making the last eight at a major for the 55th time.

“I’m proud of it, but my attention is already in the next match,” said Djokovic, who faces Russian 11th seed Karen Khachanov for a place in the semi-finals.

“I know what my goal is here. I’m trying to stay mentally the course and of course not look too far.

“Obviously the performance of today gives me a great deal of confidence about how I felt, about how I played.” Varillas, 27, was the first player from Peru to reach the second week of a Grand Slam since Jaime Yzaga made the US Open quarter-finals 29 years ago.

Djokovic raced 4-0 ahead in the opening set only for Varillas to break in the next game and then have a chance to get back on serve in the seventh game.

But once Djokovic held for a 5-2 lead it was plain sailing for him as he closed out victory in just under two hours.

Khachanov made his third successive Grand Slam quarter-final after he recovered from a bad start to overcome Lorenzo Sonego 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9/7), 6-1.

Djokovic holds an 8-1 record against Khachanov, winning their only previous meeting at the French Open in 2020.

Alcaraz looked every part the tournament favourite as he dismantled the talented Musetti in straight sets to return to the French Open last eight.

Musetti had not lost a set in three rounds but Alcaraz brushed the Italian 17th seed aside in barely two hours, triumphing 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to avenge last year’s defeat on clay in the 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 will face either 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas or Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner in the next round.

Alcaraz improved to 34-3 for the season and is one win away from potentially squaring off against Djokovic in the semi-finals.

In the women’s section, Elina Svitolina, playing her first Grand Slam since becoming a mother, reached the quarter-finals for the fourth time.

The Ukrainian defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) for a seventh win in seven meetings against the Russian who was a semi-finalist last year.

As with all her matches, Svitolina opted not to shake hands with her Russian opponent in protest at the war in Ukraine.

Kasatkina still gave her rival a friendly thumbs-up.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 2021 runner-up, rallied from a set and a break down to dump out Belgian 28th seed Elise Mertens 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.

The Russian, whose ranking has plunged to 333 after a serious knee injury, is the lowest-ranked Grand Slam quarter-finalist since the 2017 US Open.

Pavlyuchenkova will take on Karolina Muchova for a place in the last four after the Czech saw off lucky loser Elina Avanesyan 6-4, 6-3.

On Saturaday, Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina joined the list of South American first-timers in the second week by seeing off US ninth seed Taylor Fritz 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.

Cerundolo next meets Danish world number six and 2022 quarter-finalist Holger Rune who eased past 231st-ranked Argen­tinian qualifier Genaro Alberto Olivieri 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.

Germany’s Daniel Altmaier, who won the fifth longest match in French Open history in the last round, succumbed in straight sets to Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian will next face Alexander Zverev who edged out Frances Tiafoe of the United States 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-1, 7-6 (7/5).

Zverev suffered ankle ligament damage in a semi-final loss to Nadal in 2022 which ended his season.

“It’s been the hardest year of my life,” said German 22nd seed Zverev. “I’m so happy to be back.”

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2023