French Open PIX: Djokovic survives scare; De Minaur stuns Medvedev

Images from Day 9 of the 2024 French Open, at Roland Garros, on Monday.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic produced a superhuman effort to subdue Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Monday and reach the quarter-finals of the French Open, as the top seed shrugged off a knee issue for a milestone win.

Djokovic, who is chasing a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title was taken to five sets for the second time in less than 48 hours but showed his class to seal a record 370th match victory at the majors that broke a tie with retired Swiss great Roger Federer.

The Serb also celebrated reaching his 59th major quarter-final - the most by any men's player - to eclipse his long-time rival Federer again, while an 11th five-sets Roland Garros win tied him with Gael Monfils and Stan Wawrinka in the Open Era.

"Again a big, big, big thank you because once again like the last match. The win is your win," an exhausted Djokovic told the crowd in fluent French.

But Djokovic's title rivals in Paris will be smelling blood after another up-and-down display.

The 37-year-old showed no early signs of fatigue from his marathon third-round win over Lorenzo Musetti, a 4-1/2 hour epic that ended in the early hours of Sunday morning, as he blitzed claycourt specialist Cerundolo in the opening set.

He sustained a right knee issue early in the next and needed treatment on court before saving four break points to draw level at 3-3 with a backhand bullet, but allowed his opponent a way back in by surrendering his serve in the 12th game.

Cerundolo grabbed another break early in the next set to go 3-0 up and comfortably got ahead in the clash as alarm bells began to ring for Djokovic in a second straight match at the claycourt Grand Slam he has won three times.

The finish line seemed to appear in sight for Cerundolo when he raced up 4-2 in the next set, but the 25-year-old squandered the advantage as Djokovic sent down two big serves and produced a spectacular drop en route to holding for 6-5 before levelling the contest.

Having dropped serve after a fast start in the deciding set, Djokovic took a nasty tumble during a point and ranted about the state of the Court Philippe Chatrier surface.

He dusted himself off and the smile returned shortly after as he executed a sensational drop volley while doing the splits at 3-3 and celebrated the point by lying on the court with his arms outstretched in a superhero pose.

With the crowd firmly behind him, Djokovic closed out a superb victory and paid tribute to fans on the main showcourt at around 9 p.m local time.

"I actually felt great coming into the match, as good as I could under the circumstances and played really well first set," Djokovic told reporters.

"Then in the third game of the second set, I slipped, one of the many times that I slipped and fell today. That affected the knee... At one point I didn't know, to be honest, whether I should continue or not."

Next up for the tournament's top seed is a rematch of last year's final against Norway's Casper Ruud after the seventh seed defeated American Taylor Fritz 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Alex de Minaur broke a 20-year Australian hoodoo at the French Open on Monday as the 11th seed battled from a set down to stun fifth seed Daniil Medvedev 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 and advance to his first Roland Garros quarter-final.

De Minaur became the first man from his nation to reach the last eight at the claycourt Grand Slam since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004, with the victory on Suzanne Lenglen coming after a mid-match blip for Medvedev following a foot blister.

"It's great. It's amazing. It's a great position to be in," De Minaur told reporters.

"It's not just myself. The whole country is showing what we can do and the strength of the nation is extremely exciting for even everyone back at home, just to see all the numbers we got in the top 100, and we keep on pushing out there.

"Just to show what the Australian chemistry is, I've got Thanasi Kokkinakis watching me today, supporting me. It's great to see, honestly.

"Unbelievable feeling to know you've got the support of your team mates and ultimately your mates on tour."

Former Paris quarter-finalist Medvedev had lost only twice in eight previous meetings with De Minaur and drew first blood with a break in the third game but the 28-year-old was pushed hard in the next before extending his lead.

De Minaur drew loud cheers from the crowd as he retrieved shots relentlessly to mount a late comeback attempt from there but Medvedev wrapped up the opening set with little fuss to briefly dampen his opponent's spirits.

Medvedev shrugged off a string of superb winners from De Minaur's racket at the start of the second set but surrendered it tamely with an unforced error after taking a medical timeout for blisters on his foot midway through.

With the momentum shifting, the 25-year-old De Minaur blazed to a 5-1 lead en route to winning the third set before he traded breaks with Medvedev early in the fourth and pulled away shortly after for a famous win.

Andreeva sends local hope Gracheva packing

Russian-born Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva rode a huge wave of support from the large partisan crowd but could not prevent a 7-5 6-2 defeat by teenager Mirra Andreeva in the French Open fourth round on Monday.

It was a disappointing end for fans on Court Suzanne Lenglen who had taken to Gracheva after she obtained French nationality last year but they also acknowledged rising Russian 17-year-old Andreeva who produced a mature display.

Andreeva breezed through the opening set and broke Gracheva early in the second but the 88th-ranked Frenchwoman raised her level in the third game and produced a huge forehand to thwart her opponent temporarily.

The joy was short-lived, however, as Andreeva hardly put a foot wrong after that with power and precision to complete the match in 91 minutes.

The usually fickle French crowd chanted Andreeva's name and gave her a huge ovation as 23-year-old Gracheva left the court wondering what could have been.

Second seed Sabalenka bludgeons Navarro

World number two Aryna Sabalenka pummelled American Emma Navarro 6-2, 6-3 in just over an hour on Monday to march into the French Open quarter-finals with an emphatic performance that kept her on course for her first title in Paris.

Navarro had stunned the Belarusian at Indian Wells in March but Sabalenka broke her to love at the very start and followed that up with another break to race through the first set in 30 minutes.

The Australian Open champion, unbeaten now in 11 straight matches at the majors this year without losing a single set, completely overpowered Navarro with her thundering baseline game and attacked the American's weak second serve at every opportunity.

"It was really tough against her in Indian Wells," Sabalenka said.

"I was ready for a tough match, to fight for any point, for long rallies. I am super happy with the level I played today."

On a day of glorious sunshine in the French capital after days of rain interruptions, Sabalenka got an early break in the second set courtesy of one of her 36 winners to go 2-1 up and leave Navarro with a mountain to climb.

"Definitely with the sun you are feeling positive," Sabalenka said. "It has been raining, now the beautiful conditions. I was just trying to focus on myself and do my best on each point."

The American tried to mix things up, adding more drop shots and changing the pace a bit.

She managed to hang on a little longer but could not avoid the inevitable, with the 26-year-old Belarusian, looking to add to her two Grand Slam titles so far, wrapping up proceedings on her first match point.

She will face either Varvara Gracheva of France or teenager Mirra Andreeva in the last eight.

Rybakina downs Svitlona to march into quarters

World number four Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan eased to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Ukraine's Elena Svitolina to reach her second French Open quarter-final.

After a sluggish start with both players dropping serve, Russian-born Rybakina upped her level up and cruised through the first set.

In the second set, the 29-year-old Svitolina was no match again for Rybakina as the 19th-ranked Ukrainian showed signs of fatigue from the start and lacked precision throughout.

Odessa-born Svitolina had reached the quarter-finals four times before, including 2023, but was unable to trouble the former Wimbledon champion.

Rybakina, who made the last-eight for the first time since 2021, faces the winner of the match between 70th-ranked Russian Elina Avanesyan and 15th-ranked Italian Jasmine Paolini.