Last year's men's French Open champion Gaston Gaudio was dumped out of this year's competition at the fourth round stage today when Spain's David Ferrer beat him 2-6 6-4 7-6 5-7 6-4.
Fifth seed Gaudio, who had not dropped a set on his way to the last 16, had his chances in a tight contest that could have gone either way. He bowed out by hitting a forehand long after four hours five minutes.
Ferrer, seeded 20th, will meet compatriot Rafael Nadal or France's Sebastien Grosjean for a place in the semi-finals.
The third Argentine-Spanish match-up this year at Roland Garros, and probably not the last, was a battle of nerves between two of the best baseliners in the game.
Gaudio had won all four of their meetings before Ferrer beat him on his way to the semi-finals three weeks ago in Rome. Nadal, 18, and French number one Grosjean had won a set each when darkness interrupted their fourth-round match on Sunday.
Meanwhile last year's runner-up Guillermo Coria was also beaten in the fourth round as he lost 2-6 6-3 7-6 6-2 to Nikolay Davydenko.
The Argentine got off to a good start on a blustery Court Suzanne Lenglen before being overpowered by the determined Russian.
In the second set Davydenko cranked up the power on his serve and his groundstrokes and began to outhit the lightweight eighth seed.
The Russian 12th seed pulled away in the fourth set and sealed victory after three hours six minutes with a deft forehand drop shot. Davydenko will next play either Spain's Tommy Robredo.
Robredo ended Marat Safin's bid to add the French Open crown to his Australian Open title with a demoralising defeat. The 15th seeded Spaniard edged the Russian third seed 7-5, 1-6, 6-1, 4-6, 8-6 in a thrilling centre court battle.
For the second year in succession, former world number one Safin needed treatment on blisters to his right hand as he crashed out again at the fourth round stage.
Safin, struggling in the tricky, windy centre court conditions, had broken first to lead 4-2 but back roared the Spaniard to 4-3, after chasing down two dropshots. He then made the crucial breakthrough in the 11th game to lead 6-5. The 23-year-old Robredo then served out the set after 46 minutes on court with a confident running forehand.
Safin recovered from losing his serve in the opening game of the second set to break in the second, fourth and sixth games to level the contest at one set each.
But he pushed the self-destruct button in the third slipping to 3-1 down and picking up a warning for racquet abuse when he destroyed an advertising board under his courtside chair in the fifth game. Robredo made the most of the Russian's discomfort by running away with the third set in just 24 minutes.
After the two exchanged breaks again at the start of the fourth set, Safin needed treatment for blisters on his right hand but it didn't appear to hinder him too much as he edged into a 3-1 lead.
Back came Robredo, chasing down everything that came his way, to break back to 3-2 down.Incredibly, Safin swooped to take the fourth set and level the tie when Robredo could only find the net as he sprinted after a delicate Safin dropshot.
Robredo earned a break in the decider to lead 3-2 before Safin hit back immediately for 3-3. A tiring Safin served up two double faults in the 13th game to slip a break down at 6-7 and Robredo took the tie after a dramatic 3hr 50min when the Russian hit a forehand wide.
