Djokovic cruises past Varillas to reach record 17th French Open quarter-final

World No 3 beat Peruvian 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 and will face Khachanov in last eight

Novak Djokovic on his way to beating Pablo Juan Varillas of Peru on Sunday, June 4, 2023, to reach a record 17th French Open quarter-final. Getty

World No 3 Novak Djokovic blew away Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas in straight sets on Sunday to reach a record 17th quarter-final at the French Open.

Third seed Djokovic won 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to overtake Rafael Nadal's last-eight record in Paris and reach a 55th Grand Slam quarter-final.

The Serbian is aiming to win a third French Open title and clinch a record 23rd men's Grand Slam crown. Nadal, who has 22 Grand Slam titles, was forced to miss this year's tournament to have surgery on a hip injury.

The 36-year-old Djokovic, who won the Roland Garros crown in 2016 and 2021, will next meet 11th seed Karen Khachanov for a place in the semi-finals.

"There was a great atmosphere, I really felt the love today. Thank you for all your support," said Djokovic after the match.

"Today was the first time I played [Juan Pablo Varillas]. It was the best I played this week. The last couple of years he has started to make some progress in the world tennis scene. He is a real specialist on this surface. I had to try and dictate points but he is very consistent.

"I’m very happy. That was the most high level I have played yet and I am very, very happy.

"I’m not that young any more and you have to be winning a lot. Like any other player it’s not the same for me as it was 10 years ago. I have to try and handle it with my body a bit more, be a little more careful. I’m very happy and motivated still."

On overtaking Nadal's quarter-final record in Paris, he said: "I am very proud of this record. I have put a lot of effort into my game and I am very motivated to continue."

With the wind swirling around Court Philippe Chatrier, Djokovic struggled with his ball toss and faced break point in the opening game but saved it with an ace before breaking the Peruvian in the next game.

The Serb then raced to a 4-0 lead before Varillas, the first Peruvian man to reach the last 16 at Roland Garros since Jaime Yzaga in 1994, clawed a break back in the fifth game. Djokovic then saved another break point to hold for 5-2 and the rest of the set went with serve for a 6-3 win to the Serb.

Djokovic then cruised through the next two sets 6-2, 6-2 for a comfortable victory in under two hours over Varillas, who had never won a Grand Slam match before this year's French Open.

Djokovic's victory was watched by his son Stefan and the No 3 seed said: "It’s a great pleasure for me, I love having my kids here. My son and daughter are here, they will be here tomorrow and then head to Serbia for school. It’s more important than Roland Garros, they need some education.

"My son loves tennis. When I am with him I’m a different person, I'm very positive around him. Feeling a lot of love and inspiration from him to play good tennis. Maybe one day he could also play here."

Next up for Djokovic is world No 11 Khachanov, who trails 8-1 in his head-to-heads against the Serb.

The Russian came through against Italian Lorenzo Sonego in four sets for a 1-6, 6-4, 7-6, 6-1 victory.

In the women's draw, No 28 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium was knocked out by unseeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 2021 runner-up at Roland Garros, who won 3-6, 7-6, 6-3.

Pavlyuchenkova, who missed last year's tournament due to a knee injury, will meet Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals..

Unseeded Muchova was a 6-4, 6-4 winner against Elina Avanesyan, who lost in qualifying but got into the main draw when another player withdrew.