The best moments from day nine at the French Open

Novak Djokovic became the first man to reach 10 consecutive French Open quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-2 6-2 victory over Jan-Lennard Struff.

Djokovic will face fifth seed Alexander Zverev, who claimed his best grand slam win by knocking out ninth seed Fabio Fognini, while Dominic Thiem and Karen Khachanov also reached the last eight.

Defending women’s champion Simona Halep needed only 45 minutes to dispatch teenager Iga Swiatek and next faces an even younger player in Amanda Anisimova. Ashleigh Barty will take on Madison Keys in the other quarter-final in the top half.

Picture of the day

Thiem’s terrific tweener

Not many players would back themselves to pull off the shot of the match against walking highlight reel Gael Monfils, but fourth seed Thiem did with this superb through-the-legs winner.

“It was an amazing shot,” said the Austrian. “It was really amazing, of course, because it was the only choice I had. I was so far off the ball and couldn’t play it any different way. And if that ball goes in it’s always a big highlight. And I’m happy I have my first tweener of the year.”

Keys stops towel snatcher

For the second time in the tournament, TV cameras picked up an adult fan wrestling away a towel thrown to a child by a player. This time, the player in question, American 14th seed Madison Keys, made sure the man did not get away with it.

Fallen seeds

Women: None
Men: Juan Martin Del Potro (8), Fabio Fognini (9), Gael Monfils (14)

Who’s up next?

The winner will face either Croatian 31st seed Petra Martic or Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova, who are both through to the last eight of a slam for the first time.

Two blockbuster men’s quarter-finals pit third seed Roger Federer against his friend and fellow countryman Stan Wawrinka while 11-time champion Rafael Nadal takes on seventh seed Kei Nishikori.