Third seed Novak Djokovic cruised into the last eight at the French Open on Sunday with a straight sets demolition of the unseeded Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas.
The 36-year-old Serb, who is seeking a third French Open crown and a record 23rd title at the four Grand Slam tournaments, was 4-0 up in 16 minutes.
The gulf in experience was clear. Djokovic was playing for the 68th time in the fourth round of one of the majors while his 27-year-old opponent was making his debut in the last-16.
Varillas stopped Djokovic's early run with flashes of the confident hitting that took him past the 13th seed Hubert Hurkacz in the third round.
He halved Djokovic's lead but the veteran held on to take the opener 6-3. The second set was a 6-2 sweep and the third was equally unruffled.
Djokovic wrapped up affairs 6-2 with a slick serve and volley routine. The demolition had taken one hour and 57 minutes
"I know Juan Pablo is a clay court specialist and so I was very happy with what I think was my best level of tennis since the tournament began."
Varillas, the first Peruvian to reach the last 16 at Roland Garros Jaime Yzaga in 1994, said he had started to feel the effects of playing 17 sets of tennis in five days.
"Even I was at 100 percent energy, I still might have lost in this manner," added the 27-year-old. "It has been a wonderful run for me here in Paris."
Record
Of his first meeting with Djokovic, he said: "He has an amazing ability to be on the ball no matter where it is and his defence is aggressive. You attack and attack and he defends and suddenly flips the coin and you are defending."
Djokovic will need to maintain those high standards after reaching a record 17th quarter-final at the French Open.
He will take on the 11th seed Karen Khachanov who disposed of the unseeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego in four sets.
"I'm happy about all records," said Djokovic. "But it shows that I'm no longer young. I put in lots of effort - like all the players - and I am happy and motivated to continue."
In the women's draw, the 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova came from a set down to see off the 28th seed Elise Mertens.
The 31-year-old Russian will take on the unseeded Czech Karolina Muchova after her straight sets win over Elina Avanesyan.
