PARIS - Defending champion Novak Djokovic produced a superhuman effort to subdue Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 6-1 5-7 3-6 7-5 6-3 on Monday and reach the quarter-finals of the French Open, as the top seed shrugged off a knee issue for a milestone win.

Big-hitting women's title contenders made short work of their opponents earlier as second seed Aryna Sabalenka thrashed American Emma Navarro 6-2 6-3 while fourth seed Elena Rybakina eased to a 6-4 6-3 victory over Ukraine's Elina Svitolina.

Russian 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva then outclassed former compatriot and newly-French Varvara Gracheva 7-5 6-2 to end home hopes in the afternoon, but all eyes were on a potential upset that was brewing on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Djokovic, who is chasing a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title was taken to five sets for the second time in less than 48 hours but showed his class to seal a record 370th match victory at the majors that broke a tie with retired Swiss great Roger Federer

Djokovic, who is chasing a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title was taken to five sets for the second time in less than 48 hours but showed his class to seal a record 370th match victory at the majors that broke a tie with retired Swiss great Roger Federer.

The Serb also celebrated reaching his 59th major quarter-final - the most by any men's player - to eclipse his long-time rival Federer again, while an 11th five-sets Roland Garros win tied him with Gael Monfils and Stan Wawrinka in the Open Era.

"Again a big, big, big thank you because once again like the last match. The win is your win," an exhausted Djokovic told the crowd in fluent French.

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Smelling blood

But Djokovic's title rivals in Paris will be smelling blood after another up-and-down display.

The 37-year-old showed no early signs of fatigue from his marathon third-round win over Lorenzo Musetti, a 4-1/2 hour epic that ended in the early hours of Sunday morning, as he blitzed claycourt specialist Cerundolo in the opening set.

He sustained a right knee issue early in the next and needed treatment on court before saving four break points to draw level at 3-3 with a backhand bullet, but allowed his opponent a way back in by surrendering his serve in the 12th game.

Cerundolo grabbed another break early in the next set to go 3-0 up and comfortably got ahead in the clash as alarm bells began to ring for Djokovic in a second straight match at the claycourt Grand Slam he has won three times.

The finish line seemed to appear in sight for Cerundolo when he raced up 4-2 in the next set, but the 25-year-old squandered the advantage as Djokovic sent down two big serves and produced a spectacular drop en route to holding for 6-5 before levelling the contest.

Having dropped serve after a fast start in the deciding set, Djokovic took a nasty tumble during a point and ranted about the state of the Court Philippe Chatrier surface.

He dusted himself off and the smile returned shortly after as he executed a sensational drop volley while doing the splits at 3-3 and celebrated the point by lying on the court with his arms outstretched in a superhero pose.

With the crowd firmly behind him, Djokovic closed out a superb victory and paid tribute to fans on the main showcourt at around 9 p.m local time.

"I actually felt great coming into the match, as good as I could under the circumstances and played really well first set," Djokovic told reporters.

"Then in the third game of the second set, I slipped, one of the many times that I slipped and fell today. That affected the knee... At one point I didn't know, to be honest, whether I should continue or not."

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Next up for the tournament's top seed is a rematch of last year's final against Norway's Casper Ruud after the seventh seed defeated American Taylor Fritz 7-6(6) 3-6 6-4 6-2.

Alex de Minaur broke a long Australian jinx as the 11th seed battled from a set down to stun Daniil Medvedev 4-6 6-2 6-1 6-3 and become the first man from his nation in two decades to make the last-eight at Roland Garros.

He will face fourth seed Alexander Zverev after the German outlasted 13th seed Holger Rune 4-6 6-1 5-7 7-6(2) 6-2 in a match that ended in early morning hours.