Nadal still too hot to handle as Monaco is crushed

The defending champion’s 6-2 6-0 6-0 victory over Juan Monaco meant he has lost only 19 games in his first four matches, the fewest at Roland Garros since Guillermo Vilas in 1982.

Nadal said: “When I had the first break, I started to play very well. Before I didn’t play fantastic, but he started the match playing aggressive, playing good shots.

“In my opinion, he was unlucky in the first set. That’s my feeling, 6-2 was too much. Later, for sure I was very happy the way I played. I feel very, very sorry for him.

“I think he’s playing probably the best tennis of his career, but probably not (yesterday), especially in the last set. I saw him suffering a little bit on court at the end. He’s one of my best friends on tour.”

Nadal next meets 12th seed Nicolas Almagro, but with every match it seems more and more unlikely that anyone will be able to deny him a record seventh title at Roland Garros.

The Spaniard, who celebrated his 26th birthday on Sunday, said of his winning streak: “It’s the only thing I could do so that I could fight back.

“This does happen in special circumstances. But I’m not certain that this could be repeated again. It’s due to circumstances, the conditions were all favourable at this moment in time. This is how I managed to win these 17 games. This result is lopsided. I shouldn’t have this type of score against one of the best players in the world.”

Almagro, who is also yet to lose a set, knocked out eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic 6-4 6-4 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals for the third time in five years.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vowed to “fight like a lion” against world No 1 Novak Djokovic today after battling his way into the last eight for the first time.

The entertaining Frenchman was back on court early yesterday afternoon against Stanislas Wawrinka after darkness forced an end to play late on Sunday night with Tsonga 4-2 up in the fifth.

Wawrinka immediately retrieved the break but Tsonga struck again as the Swiss unsuccessfully served to stay in the match, clinching a 6-4 7-6 (8/6) 3-6 3-6 6-4 victory.

Looking ahead to the clash with Djokovic, he said: “It’s going to be a very difficult match. But obviously I’ll fight like a lion and we’ll see the result.”

The match between Juan Martin Del Potro and Tomas Berdych had also been suspended on Sunday night after the Argentinian won the third set, and he picked up where he had left off to win 7-6 (8/6) 1-6 6-3 7-5 and set up a match with Roger Federer.

Sixth seed David Ferrer has been the most impressive player apart from Nadal and he had another comfortable victory yesterday, outclassing fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-3 6-2 6-0, to move through to a meeting with Andy Murray, who came back from a set down to beat Richard Gasquet 1-6 6-4 6-1 6-2.

In the women’s draw, Li Na’s hopes of successfully defending her title were dashed after the Chinese player was beaten 3-6 6-2 6-0 by world No 142 Yaroslava Shvedova.

Li, who defeated Francesca Schiavone in the final last year, looked to be in control of the fourth-round match in the opening set but the cool and windy conditions did not help and she succumbed to the greater consistency of Shvedova.

The Kazakh was a quarter-finalist in Paris two years ago, which helped her to climb inside the top 30 in the rankings, but a knee injury and poor form last year saw her tumble to as low as 257 in the world.

Maria Sharapova battled her way into the last eight with a 6-4 6-7 (5/7) 6-2 victory over Klara Zakopalova in a match that featured an astonishing 21 breaks of serve.

The Russian had breezed through her first three matches, dropping only five games, but the conditions yesterday – cold, windy and damp – were a real challenge.

Sharapova’s serve has been her main weakness since her shoulder problems of 2008 but she did enough to get through and will face Kaia Kanepi, who beat Arantxa Rus 6-1 4-6 6-0.

Second seed Sharapova is seeking her first French title to complete her set of grand slams.