Croatian Marin Cilic has not put a foot wrong, as he crushed Russia's world No.2 Daniil Medvedev 6-2 6-3 6-2 in a lopsided contest to return to the French Open quarter-finals after four years.
Seeded 20th, the 2014 US Open champion dominated proceedings from the start and finished off the contest in 1h 45m to reach the last eight stage on the Parisian clay for the third time in his career.
Medvedev came into the match after winning all three previous meetings against the 33-year-old Croatian, but cut a sorry figure under the lights on Court Philippe Chatrier in their first contest on clay.
"It was absolutely a fantastic match from the first point to the last," Cilic said. "I enjoyed the atmosphere, enjoyed the night session here, played incredible tennis, one of the best matches of my career from start to finish."
Such was the Croatian's domination, he did not face a breakpoint and will next meet another Russian in seventh seed Andrey Rublev for a place in the semi-finals.
Cilic played aggressively, pinning Medvedev behind the baseline and advancing to the net at every opportunity, as the Russian failed to find any zing behind his flat groundstrokes in the cooler night conditions.
Unable to find a solution to Cilic's pinpoint winners, Medvedev kept shaking his head and also poured out his frustration at the chair umpire over what he felt was very little time to rest during changeovers.
Medvedev's form on the night was more reminiscent of his four consecutive first-round exits at Roland Garros, before he made the quarter-finals last year.
Cilic won four consecutive games from 2-2 to bag the opening set in 31 minutes and another break in the sixth game was enough for him to take the second set.
Australian Open finalist Medvedev, who won the 2021 US Open, then took a lengthy toilet break, but served a double fault on his first point, after returning to court. Another double fault in that opening game led to Medvedev getting broken.
The 26-year-old's problems with double faults and unforced errors continued, as Cilic broke him again to jump into a 4-0 third-set lead.
There was no way back for Medvedev, who briefly rose to world No.1 earlier this year and Cilic converted his second matchpoint, when the Russian found the net with a backhand return.
"When I'm playing my best tennis, everything is working out, from the serve, return, movement," added Cilic. "These last 10-15 days were great for me - great training, great matches, very consistent tennis.
"Against guys like Daniil, you have to be able to sustain that high level throughout the match and if you give him a chance, he's going to be back, so I was really focused to keep going and definitely extremely pleased with that."
Rune dispatches Tsitsipas
Teenage sensation Holger Rune has outmuscled world No.4 and last year's finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5 3-6 6-3 6-4 to move into the quarter-finals with his biggest Grand Slam win to date.
The Dane, who has improved more than 350 places in world rankings during the past 15 months, joins fellow 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in the last eight, the first time two teenagers made that stage at a Grand Slam since 1994.
"I have an unbelievable feeling, I was so nervous in the end," said a beaming Rune, playing in his first French Open. "I was very nervous.
"I told myself to keep at it and play my plan. I mean, it is so great to still be here."
"Part of the tactic to play as aggressive as possible - when he gets shorter balls he attacks them. I really liked playing the drop shots and it worked out pretty good, so I am happy."
Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek survived a big scare, as she advanced to the quarter-finals by beating Chinese teenager Qinwen Zheng 6-7(5) 6-0 6-2 for her 32nd consecutive victory.
Gunning for a second title in three years at Roland Garros, the world No.1 showed rare signs of nerves, letting a comfortable lead slip through her hands, before her opponent suffered a thigh problem.
Poland's Swiatek, who will next face American 11th seed Jessica Pegula, is unbeaten since last February, claiming titles on clay at Stuttgart and Rome.
The 2020 champion is bidding to become the fourth player since 2000 to reclaim the Suzanne Lenglen Cup, after Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.
The 20-year-old is on the longest unbeaten run in the women's tour, since Serena bagged 34 successive victories in 2013.
Reuters
