adminevergreen Tommy Haas.
Top seed Djokovic carved out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over 16th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber with the German paying a high price for converting just two of 13 break points.
German 12th seed Haas, meanwhile, became the third oldest man to reach the last-eight with a comfortable 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 win over volatile Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
“It’s very difficult to play against Philipp as he is a specialist on clay. After the first set, I played well so I am happy,” said Djokovic.
On facing Haas, against whom he has a 4-3 winning record, the Serb said: “I have a lot of respect for Tommy. He is playing well.”
Djokovic, the runner-up to seven-time champion Rafael Nadal last year, needs a French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam.
The last time he failed to reach the last-eight of a major was in Paris in 2009 when he lost in the fourth round to Monday’s opponent.
Haas became the first German in 17 years to reach the quarter-finals and the oldest man to make the last eight at any Grand Slam since Andre Agassi at the 2005 US Open.
Haas, who made history in the third round when he needed a record 13 match points to beat John Isner, eased past Youzhny in just 84 minutes.
“It was a pretty good performance. I was broken in the first game but I got my bearings, got into the groove,” said Haas, who is enjoying a renaissance in a career which has been decimated by a series of injuries.
“He gave me a lot of unforced errors so I just kept doing what I was doing.”
Only Pancho Gonzales, who was over 40 when he made the last eight in 1968, and 39-year-old Istvan Gulyas in 1971, have got this far at Haas’s age in the tournament.
“The oldest since 1971? I never thought it would be possible to have this success,” said Haas. Former world number two Haas had lost on clay in straight sets to Youzhny in Rome last month. But he was never troubled yesterday, winning 10 games in succession after losing the opener.
Meanwhile, seven-time champion Rafael Nadal celebrated his 27th birthday in ruthless style yesterday by trouncing outclassed Japanese 13th seed Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 to reach the French Open quarter-finals.
It was third-seeded Nadal’s 56 win in 57 career matches at Roland Garros as he moved closer to becoming the first man in history to win the same Grand Slam title eight times.
Next up for the defending champion is either French seventh seed Richard Gasquet or Stanislas Wawrinka, the Swiss ninth seed.
Nadal arrived in Paris having collected six titles in eight finals since his return from a seven-month injury lay-off.
But he was sluggish in the first week of a cold and damp Paris, losing the opening set of his first two matches for the first time in his Grand Slam career.
Since the weather has improved, so has the Spaniard, seeing off Fabio Fognini in straight sets on Saturday and then comfortably defeating Nishikori, the first Japanese man in the fourth round since Fumiteru Nakano in 1938.
“It’s a very special moment,” said Nadal, as the crowd welcomed him. — AFP.
Online Reporter