Novak Djokovic equaled Roger Federer's mark of reaching nine consecutive quarterfinals at Roland Garros on Sunday by beating No 30 seed Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
It is also the Serbian's 12th career trip to the round of eight in Paris, a record for the 50-year professional era. After the win over Verdasco, Djokovic has now advanced to his 40th Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Rafael Nadal can pull even with a 12th French Open quarterfinal, too, by winning on Monday.
The straightforward victory for 2016 French Open champion Djokovic was his 200th career tour-level win on clay.
Thiem steam-rolls nishikori
Dominic Thiem also advanced into the French Open quarterfinals for the third straight year, in what was becoming a steam-rollering of Kei Nishikori until the 19th-seeded player from Japan mounted a late fight-back.
"The first two sets were amazing," the seventh-seeded Austrian said of the 6-2, 6-0, 5-7, 6-4 win, "... then he raised his level."
Nishikori won just 14 points in the first set and even fewer, nine, in the second, as his serve and service returns ran cold on the sun-kissed Court Philippe Chatrier.
Play stayed on serve in the third set until Nishikori won the only break point, on Thiem's serve in the 12th game.
Thiem bit his fingers after squandering his first match point. But Nishikhori made life easy for him, with an over-cooked forehand hit long on Thiem's second match point.
Zverev fights on
Thiem made the semifinals last year and in 2016. He will next play second-seeded Alexander Zverev who fought his way into his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, winning his third back-to-back five-set match at the French Open.
The German won 4-6, 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 against Karen Khachanov, a 38th-ranked Russian, in their first-ever meeting on clay or at a major.
Zverev's previous Grand Slam best was reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.
At 21, Zverev is the youngest quarterfinalist at Roland Garros since Juan Martin del Potro in 2009.
Zverev's youth and fitness regime - he says he spends three to four hours in the gym each day — have helped him overcome the fatigue of three-hour plus matches on the leg-pounding clay of Roland Garros.
He shrugged off a question about spending so much time on court, saying: "I'm young so I may as well stay on court to practice a little bit."
Cecchinato’s into 1st Q/F
From never having won a Grand Slam match before last week, Marco Cecchinato has now won four in a row to set up a quarterfinal against Novak Djokovic.
With a 7-5, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 upset victory against eighth-seeded David Goffin of Belgium on Sunday, the 72nd-ranked Italian became the lowest-ranked man to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros since Ernests Gulbis, then ranked 80th, in 2008.
The 25-year-old Cecchinato lost in the first round at his four previous majors. He came close to defeat in his first match this year at Roland Garros, losing the first two sets, before winning 10-8 in the fifth.