Rafa Nadal returned to Roland Garros after his birthday celebrations and showed no signs of slowing up, railroading compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1 6-2 6-2 in the fourth round on Sunday.
In yet another ominous performance, Nadal destroyed his opponent on Court Suzanne Lenglen to move into the quarter-finals and one step closer to a 10th Roland Garros crown.
Nadal, who turned 31 on Saturday, will next face either Milos Raonic or another Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta for a place in the semi-finals.
Nadal has not lost a set so far this tournament, and is on track to win the title without doing so, something he did in 2008 and 2010.
Fifth seed Milos Raonic had only himself to blame after he was dumped out of the French Open fourth round by claycourt specialist Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6 7-6(2) 6-7(6) 6-4 8-6 on Sunday, with the Canadian committing a staggering 84 unforced errors.
The world number six fired an eye-popping 25 aces in an error-ridden performance and fought off six match points before the Spaniard grabbed victory with a volley to earn his first-ever grand slam quarter-final and a matchup with nine-times champion Rafael Nadal.
Carreno Busta, who recorded his first win over a top-10 player after 16 failed attempts, traded sets with Raonic, who had littered the court with errors throughout, before the Canadian grabbed a break to go 3-1 up in the fifth.
The 25-year-old Spaniard responded with a break of his own but wasted three matchpoints at 5-4 and another two at 7-6 before carving out his seventh to finally finish off Raonic with a volley after four hours and 17 minutes.
STRAIGHT SETS WIN FOR DJOKOVIC
Novak Djokovic beat the Spaniard Albert Ramos 7-6(5) 6-1 6-3
THIEM RACES INTO QUARTERS
Austrian sixth seed Dominic Thiem raced into the quarter-finals with a 6-1 6-3 6-1 victory over Argentine Horacio Zeballos.
MONFILS WINS ALL-FRENCH BATTLE AS GASQUET RETIRES
Gael Monfils advanced to the fourth round after compatriot Richard Gasquet retired midway through the third set with a thigh injury.
Monfils won 7-6(5) 5-7 4-3 and will face third seed Stan Wawrinka next.
ISNER BOWS OUT AFTER DEFEAT BY KHACHANOV
Russia’s Karen Khachanov beat big-serving American John Isner 7-6(1) 6-3 6-7(5) 7-6(3) and will meet world number one Andy Murray in the fourth round.
Isner bows out as the player with the most aces at Roland Garros so far. He served up 14 in his match with Kachanov to take him to 66 for the tournament, eight more than second-placed Kevin Anderson of South Africa.
NISHIKORI DOWNS CHUNG IN THIRD ROUND
Eighth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan beat South Korea’s Chung Hyeong 7-5 6-4 6-7(4) 0-6 6-4 after their third-round encounter resumed on Sunday.
Nishikori plays Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco in the next round.
