Novak Djokovic demonstrated his superior quality to swat aside Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas and reach a record 17th French Open men’s quarter-final. The Serbian third seed, 36, won 6-3 6-2 6-2 on the Roland Garros clay and moved ahead of Rafael Nadal to take sole ownership of the last-eight record. Djokovic is also aiming to overtake Nadal by winning a record 23rd Grand Slam men’s singles title.
The two-time champion will play Russian 11th seed Karen Khachanov next. Khachanov, 27, reached his third successive Grand Slam quarter-final with a 1-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 6-1 victory over unseeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego. Spanish top seed Carlos Alcaraz, seen as Djokovic’s main rival for the title in the absence of injured 14-time champion Nadal, plays Italian 17th seed Lorenzo Musetti later on Sunday. Drama tends to follow Djokovic around at a Grand Slam and, after he risked flam- ing political tensions in the Bal- kans by writing a slogan about Kosovo at the start of Roland Garros, he admitted he gains extra drive from controversy.