Andy Murray survived a second-set scare to see off a resilient Jeremy Chardy 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-2 and book his place in the French Open quarter-finals.
Ahead of the fourth-round match at Roland Garros, Chardy expressed his annoyance that Murray withdrew in Rome last month a day after eliminating him from the tournament.
If there was any needle between the two players it played into Murray's hands in the early stages, as the third seed - who is now 14 matches unbeaten on clay - was ruthlessly efficient and aggressive at the right times.
But Chardy has a tendency for the unpredictable and - backed by a vociferous crowd on Suzanne-Lenglen Court - bravely fought his way back into the match and even had a break lead in the third set.
However, a hefty 56 unforced errors - including 10 double-faults - counted against him as Murray fought back to deservedly reach a 17th consecutive grand-slam quarter, where he will meet David Ferrer.
Murray looked almost surprised to break in the first game as Chardy double-faulted twice to gift him the lead, and the ease of that game perhaps explains why Chardy was able to break straight back immediately - finishing the job with a superb forehand that left Murray out of position.
After that frantic start Murray settled into his stride and he earned the decisive break in game five when Chardy went long on the third break-point.
Murray had Chardy on the ropes at the start of the second, but squandered three break-points in an epic 15-minute opening game before a further two went begging in Chardy's next service game.
That would soon prove costly as Chardy clinically dispatched a backhand return on break-point in game four and, with his forehand firing, the Frenchman delighted the home crowd by going on to level the match.
Chardy continued in the ascendancy at the start of the third with an immediate break, but Murray finally shook off the cobwebs to break straight back thanks to a couple of lazy errors from Chardy.
Having overcome the frustration, the momentum was truly back with Murray in the eighth game. Chardy staved off one break-point before wastefully double-faulting on the second to hand the Scot a 5-3 lead, and he served out to make it 2-1 in sets.
With Chardy waning, Murray raced into a double-break 4-1 lead in the fourth. There was a late twist when Chardy came out swinging and a poor drop-shot from Murray saw the score reduced to 4-2.
Murray broke straight back, though, and finished the job on serve with a forehand that left Chardy wrong-footed
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