Rafael Nadal powered past fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro to reach the semi-finals and continue his bid for a seventh French Open title.
Nadal won in straight sets and extended his career record to 8-0 against the 12th seed, but he was made to work a little harder than those figures suggest.
The first set went to a tie-break but the second was one-sided, and a resurgent effort from Almagro in the third set came too late to prevent a 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 6-3 defeat.
Nadal was not at his best in the opening set, but after an opening love game for Almagro he tended to hold serve more comfortably.
It was game 11 before the crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier saw the first break point, Almagro surviving with a decisive overhead.
That took the set to a tie-break, Nadal taking the first four points and wrapping it up when Almagro sent a service return long.
The left-hander broke serve for the first time to take a 3-1 lead in the second set.
Nadal faced break point for the first time in the seventh game of the set, after an hour and 36 minutes' play, but produced a dominant point, some powerful groundstrokes forcing Almagro from one corner to another before a powerful overhead killed it off.
He duly took the game for a 5-2 lead and though Almagro produced some big shots to prolong the next game to three deuces, Nadal took his first set point to move within one set of victory.
He added one more game before rain forced a very brief delay, with Almagro 40-30 up on his own serve. Two deuces followed the almost instant restart but the underdog held to level the set at 1-1.
After being taken to deuce in the next game, Nadal responded with a trademark barrage of deep groundstrokes and then an ace to hold.
Almagro missed a cross-court backhand as the first of two break points slipped away at 2-2 and Nadal closed out the game.
The right-handed player was producing some huge shots from his repertoire, particularly when allowed to attack a high ball on the forehand side, and held to go 3-3.
But Nadal made the crucial break to go 5-3 up, having been gifted his second break point by Almagro's first double-fault of the match, and served out to 15, winning the match with an ace.
David Ferrer ended Andy Murray’s campaign after inflicting a 6-4 6-7 (3/7) 6-3 6-2 defeat on the Scot.
Murray had never beaten the wall-like Spaniard in three previous meetings on clay and simply made too many errors to change that statistic in cool and wet conditions at Roland Garros.
There was a glimmer of hope when he took the second set but a rain break seemed to knock Murray out of his rhythm and when he did move ahead he could not make it count, breaking serve five times in the match and giving it straight back on every occasion.
The world number four looked sharp at the start and twice had the chance to break in the third game but he could not take either, and Ferrer took full advantage in the next game, breaking for 3-1 when Murray again netted a backhand.
The Scot certainly had his opportunities to retrieve the break, four of them in the seventh game that all went begging.
Murray screamed in frustration, but he did at least manage to save a set point on his own serve with a fine forehand.
And that became very important when he brought up two more break points at 5-3, this time the Spaniard sending a forehand long.
He was still not out of the woods, though, and, after Murray clawed his way back from 0-30, Ferrer created another set point, which he took when the fourth seed netted a forehand.
There was no doubt Murray was not moving particularly well, especially when pulled out wide on his forehand, but he made the perfect start to the second set with an immediate break.
Again he could not cement it, though, Ferrer getting a little lucky with a shot that clipped the top of the net on break point.
Moments later it began to rain and there was a brief delay before the match resumed.
The pattern stayed the same, though, as Murray tried in vain to break down the rock-solid sixth seed, whose nickname of the Little Beast is entirely apt.
The Scot's serve got him out of trouble in the sixth game, and with Ferrer serving next he came alive with a series of fine groundstrokes to break once more.
But history repeated itself, with Murray surrendering his own serve immediately for the third time in the match.
He held on for a tie-break and then stepped up his game just at the right time, winning five points in a row from 1-0 down and eventually taking it 7-3.
Murray held serve in the opening game of the third set and then the rain really began to come down, forcing a proper delay - although only for around half an hour.
The break certainly helped Ferrer more than Murray, and at the end of a very long game at 1-1, the Spaniard broke serve for a fifth time in the match when his opponent netted a backhand.
Murray was grumbling to himself but he rediscovered his form and focus to break back for 3-3 with a series of excellent groundstrokes, ending with a thumping forehand winner.
With a certain inevitability, though, once more the 25-year-old could not hold onto his own serve, and in his next service game Ferrer brought up three set points.
Murray saved two with a big forehand and then a good serve, but on the third he blazed a forehand over the baseline to hand Ferrer a two sets to one lead.
It was groundhog day at the start of the fourth set as Murray played a terrific defensive point to break Ferrer only to surrender his serve immediately for the fifth time, this time sending a forehand just wide.
He had two chances to move ahead again but could not take either, and the end looked nigh when he lost a third successive game with another wayward forehand.
Murray was certainly trying hard but he could not find the consistency to match a player of Ferrer's relentless hitting and intensity.
He had two more break points in the seventh game but he curled a forehand wide on the first and had no answer to more ferocious play from his opponent on the second.
Ferrer sensed his moment, and he brought up two match points in the next game. Murray saved one but not the second, and it was the Spaniard who deservedly moved through to his first French Open semi-final, where he will meet Nadal.
