Defending champion Novak Djokovic toiled 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 after the top seed recovered from a knee issue during the milestone victory.

The Serb, who is chasing a record-extending 25th grand slam title, sealed his 370th match victory at the majors that broke a tie with Swiss great Roger Federer but his title rivals will be smelling blood after another up-and-down display.

The 37-year-old battled past Lorenzo Musetti in five sets in the third round, finishing after 3 am on Sunday morning. The Serbian backed up that remarkable victory with another titanic effort against Cerundolo to earn back-to-back five-set victories for the first time since Roland Garros in 2012, when he reached the final.

Despite the late finish against Musetti, Djokovic looked fresh during the opening stages against Cerundolo. However, the top seed tweaked his knee at the start of the second set and the issue impaired his movement in the second and third sets, with the Serbian seemingly set to make a shock exit when he trailed 2-4 in the fourth.

Despite the deficit, Djokovic refused to surrender, breaking back to level at 4-4 before he locked in at the end of the set to force a decider.

In trademark Djokovic style, the top seed then found his best level in the fifth set. He recovered from squandering a break advantage and a fall at 2-1 to triumph after four hours and 39 minutes.

Djokovic has reached the quarter finals in the French capital for the 15th consecutive time.

Alex de Minaur broke a 20-year Australian jinx 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 in Paris since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004, with the victory on Suzanne Lenglen seemingly aided by Medvedev’s mid-match blip due to a foot problem.

Women power

World No. 2 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.

She will face Mirra Andreeva in the last eight. The teenager beat Varvara Gracheva of France 7-5, 6-2.

It was a disappointing end for fans on Court Suzanne Lenglen who had taken to Gracheva after she obtained French nationality last year.

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.

World No. 4 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan sent out a warning to her fellow title contenders as she eased to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.

After a sluggish start with both players dropping serve, Russian-born Rybakina raised her level 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 under the long-awaited sun after a wet first week on the Paris red clay.