French Open: Khachanov sends Del Potro out as Djokovic marches on

Karen Khachanov overcame Juan Martín Del Potro in a dramatic four-set battle, winning 7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to reach his first grand slam quarter-final.

Del Potro missed five break points in the first set and was punished in the twelfth game as Khachanov converted his first opportunity, snatching the set as Del Potro netted a backhand.

After an even opening, the Russian threatened to run away with the match, winning the first 13 points in the second set as he broke to lead 3-0. Del Potro was putting in a strangely pantomime performance, arguing with the umpire, throwing rackets and even admonishing a spectator for calling out during play.

Khachanov, who won his breakthrough title at the Paris Masters in November, let his opponent back in at the start of the third set, with Del Potro breaking twice on his way to taking it 6-3.

With the light fading, the No 10 seed faced the prospect of returning to the court on Tuesday if Del Potro took it to a decider. When the Argentinian double-faulted in the second game, Khachanov sensed his chance and broke with an emphatic return.

Both men hit a higher gear in the fourth set, with ferocious forehands exchanged and absorbing rallies contested. Khachanov kept his opponent at bay, and a clinical short volley in the seventh game ended Del Potro’s resistance.

Top seed Novak Djokovic’s untroubled progress continued as he chalked up a fourth successive straight-sets victory on Monday, this time outclassing Jan-Lennard Struff to reach the quarter-finals.

His 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 defeat of the 45th-ranked German means Djokovic is the first man to reach 10 successive quarter-finals at Roland Garros – a feat even Rafael Nadal has not achieved.

Struff provided some early resistance in drizzly conditions on Court Philippe Chatrier, denying Djokovic an early chance to break in the second game, but it felt like a matter of time before the No 1 seed found a higher gear. In the seventh game, he brought up two more break points with a stunning backhand passing shot, and converted it with an overhead smash.

After holding serve to take the opening set, Djokovic rolled through the next two in cruise control, winning in an hour and 33 minutes to set up a quarter-final with Sascha Zverev. The No 5 seed had a slightly tougher time of it against the resurgent Fabio Fognini, taking nearly three hours to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (5).

Kei Nishikori extinguished the hot-headed Benoît Paire’s fiery challenge to book a last-eight meeting with Nadal after an error-strewn 6-2, 6-7 (8), 6-2, 6-7 (8), 7-5 victory.

The match resumed on Monday with Nishikori two sets to one ahead, but Paire took command in the fourth with an early break. Nishikori eventually forced a tiebreak only to get tight-armed, wasting two match points on serve before surrending a set point with an ugly double fault.

Paire converted and went 5-3 up in the decider, despite making a woeful 79 unforced errors – including 16 double faults. Serving for the match, the Frenchman erred again, allowing Nishikori to level the set. The No 7 seed broke again before wrapping up victory, although his performance will not unduly concern Nadal.

Fourth seed Dominic Thiem is through to the quarter-finals for the fourth successive year after an impressive 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Gaël Monfils. Austrian Thiem made the semi-finals in 2016 and 2017, and then the final 12 months ago when he was beaten by Rafael Nadal.

Thiem, who will face Khachanov on Tuesday, put to bed his farcical “row” with Serena Williams over a fixture clash in the interview room two days ago. “It was a funny thing, strange thing,” he said after his win. “[It] made a big round in all the social networks, but I don’t put any attention to it any more.”