Serbia's Novak Djokovic plays a shot against Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas (not in photograph) during their fourth round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, on June 4, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

PARIS - Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz inched closer to a blockbuster French Open semi-final showdown with imperious wins on Sunday.

Djokovic, who is chasing a men's record 23rd Grand Slam to leapfrog Spaniard Rafa Nadal in the injured champion's absence, blazed past Peruvian marathon man Juan Pablo Varillas 6-3 6-2 6-2 in a lopsided last-eight clash.

A two-time champion in Paris, Djokovic has now reached the quarters in Paris for a record 17th time, one more than Nadal.

World number one and top seed Carlos Alcaraz, another tenacious Spaniard who is backed to take the mantle of 14-times champion Rafa Nadal, bulldozed his way to a 6-3 6-2 6-2 win over Italian Lorenzo Musetti

"I'm proud of all the records but it also means I'm not young any more," said the 36-year-old Djokovic. "It was the best level of tennis I have played here so I'm very satisfied."

World number one and top seed Alcaraz, another tenacious Spaniard who is backed to take the mantle of 14-times champion Nadal, bulldozed his way to a 6-3 6-2 6-2 win over Italian Lorenzo Musetti.

World number two Sabalenka reached the quarter-finals by beating American Sloane Stephens 7-6(5) 6-4.

ALSO READ: Creaking Djokovic adjusting to new reality at French Open

But she skipped her press conference for a second time having also done so on Friday citing mental health reasons.

Up next for Sabalenka is Elina Svitolina, who sealed a 6-4 7-6(5) victory over Russian ninth seed Daria Kasatkina to stay in contention for a maiden Grand Slam in her first major since the birth of her daughter Skai in October.

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz Garfia serves to Italy's Lorenzo Musetti (not in photograph) during their men's singles match on day eight of the Roland-Garros Open tennis tournament at the Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris on June 4, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

Russians roll on

Earlier, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova dug deep to return to the quarter-finals for the first time since her runner-up finish two years ago before fellow Russian Karen Khachanov also fought his way through on a bright Sunday.

Pavlyuchenkova, who was defeated in the 2021 final by Czech Barbora Krejcikova, skipped last year's edition as well as the second half of the season to nurse a knee problem and came into the match after three-setters in her last two encounters.

There were dramatic scenes on Court 14 as Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi were disqualified from their women's doubles third-round match after Kato struck a ball down the court between points and hit a ball girl to leave her sobbing

She was tested again by 28th seed Elise Mertens but rallied from a set and a break down to seal a 3-6 7-6(3) 6-3 victory in a little more than three hours.

ALSO READ: Tsitsipas, Alcaraz soar at French Open, Djokovic row simmers

Pavlyuchenkova, who has slipped to world number 333 after being forced to stop playing for five months last year, is the lowest-ranked French Open quarter-finalist in the Open Era.

Khachanov, the 11th seed, also showed plenty of resolve as he battled past Italian Lorenzo Sonego 1-6 6-4 7-6(7) 6-1 to reach the last eight for the second time.

"After the first set and a half, I was thinking, what am I doing here, he was hitting all over the place so I decided all I could do was fight," said Khachanov, who has reached the semi-finals in his last two Grand Slams in New York and Melbourne.

There were dramatic scenes on Court 14 as Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi were disqualified from their women's doubles third-round match after Kato struck a ball down the court between points and hit a ball girl to leave her sobbing.

Belgium's Elise Mertens plays a shot against Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (not in photograph) during their fourth round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, on June 4, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

Kato was initially warned by chair umpire Alexandre Juge but Czech Marie Bouzkova and Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo, who were leading 7-6(1) 1-3 at the time of the incident, pointed out to him that the ball girl was crying.

"No, no, let me explain to you. She (Kato) didn't do it on purpose, she (the ball girl) didn't get injured," Juge said.

READ MORE: Sabalenka powers into French second round in win

"She (Kato) didn't do it on purpose? She's crying," Sorribes Tormo said, pointing to the ball girl.

"And she has blood," Bouzkova added.

After speaking to the girl, the umpire went back up to his chair and announced the end of the match by disqualifying Kato and Sutjiadi to spark boos from the crowd.