NNovak Djokovic reached his 55th Grand Slam quarterfinal and record 17th at Roland Garros on Sunday with a straight-sets win over Juan Pablo Varillas.
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Djokovic, chasing a third Roland Garros championship and record-setting 23rd men's Grand Slam title, eased past his 94th-ranked Peruvian opponent, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
The 36-year-old Serb, champion in Paris in 2016 and 2021, will face 11th seed Karen Khachanov for a place in the semifinals.
Djokovic holds a commanding 8-1 career lead over the Russian including their only previous meeting at the French Open in 2020.
"I had never played my opponent before. I knew he was a clay court specialist and that I had to earn the victory. It was the best I played this week," said Djokovic after ensuring a 14th successive last-eight spot at the tournament.
On his record 17th quarterfinal in Paris, he added: "I am very proud of this record. I have put a lot of effort into my game and I am very motivated to continue."
On Sunday, Djokovic fought off a break point in the opening game of the first set before stretching out to a convincing 4-0 lead.
Two more breaks then helped him to a comfortable 5-1 advantage in the second set. It took Djokovic just 79 minutes to open a two-set lead.
That was in stark contrast to his gruelling third round win over Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
The first two sets then needed two hours and 53 minutes to negotiate and his eventual straight-sets win proved to be the longest three-setter he had ever played, clocked at three hours and 36 minutes.
Varillas, who had never won a Grand Slam match before this year's French Open, continued to wilt, slipping 2-1 down and then 4-1 down in the third before Djokovic put him out of his misery after a shade under two hours on court.
World No 1 Carlos Alcaraz crushed Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals and move a step closer to a blockbuster showdown with Novak Djokovic.
Alcaraz fired 42 winners and broke seven times as he made light work of Italian 17th seed Musetti, who had won their only previous encounter last year on clay.
The Spaniard, the reigning US Open champion, has won his past 11 Grand Slam matches and is through to the last eight at Roland Garros for the second year in a row.
"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.
"I try not to think about the No 1 (ranking), the pressure, winning the tournament. I try to put all those thoughts outside my mind and try just to play tennis, to enjoy it and smile all the time."
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 meeting two-time French Open winner Djokovic in the semifinals.