Novak Djokovic survived an almighty scare against Andreas Seppi to book a spot in the last eight on the French Open at Roland Garos.
Djokovic battled back from two sets down to beat Seppi, the Italian No 22 seed, 4-6 6-7 6-3 7-5 6-3.
The world number one was out of sorts all match but has proved himself a man for the big occasion many times and did so again to triumph after four hours and 18 minutes.
It was the seventh successive five-set match that Djokovic, who has not lost before the quarter-finals of a slam for three years, has won and the third time he has fought back from two sets down in his career.
Roger Federer also suffered an initial setback against David Goffin, the lucky loser, who won the first set, but the world No 3 fought back to take the next three sets and went through to his 36th grand-slam quarter-final, winning 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4.
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Victoria Azarenka had a shock early exit when she slumped to a 6-2, 7-6 fourth-round defeat by the Slovakian 15th seed Dominika Cibulkova that put her world No 1 status at risk.
Belarussian Azarenka, who lost the tiebreak 7-4, will lose top spot to Maria Sharapova if the Russian second seed reaches the final.
Cibulkova, who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros in 2009, threw her racket and fell on her back after ending Azarenka’s run with a backhand crosscourt passing shot after one hour and 47 minutes. She will next meet either American teenager Sloane Stephens or Australian sixth seed Samantha Stosur.
Azarenka started by winning a 15-minute opening game featuring six break points on the Slovakian’s serve but she could not sustain the pace, dropping her serve three times.
She tried hard to find angles but the ball would too often land long or wide on the important points.
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Cibulkova put her opponent on the back foot with lengthy rallies from the baseline, taking a well deserved one-set lead after 44 minutes.
The second set was a topsy-turvy affair on a chilly afternoon on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Azarenka opened a 2-0 lead, only for Cibulkova to reel off four games in a row to close in on victory.
Cibulkova, however, struggled to keep a check on her nerves. She double-faulted on break point in the following game and Azarenka went on to break in the 11th game when the Slovakian netted a crosscourt backhand. But Cibulkova hit back to force a tiebreak.
She set up three match points, with Azarenka saving the first one at the end of a spectacular exchange at the net, but she was left with her feet stuck on the clay on the second.