Third seed Dominic Thiem was not at his best but still had enough firepower to see off Norway's Casper Ruud with a 6-4 6-3 6-1 win and march into the French Open fourth round on Friday.
US Open champion Thiem, who has lost the last two finals at Roland Garros to Rafa Nadal, struggled with his serve in the opening set, facing six break points, but improved as the match progressed under the closed roof of Court Philippe Chatrier.
The 21-year-old Ruud arrived in Paris having reached the semi-finals in Rome and Hamburg in the lead-up to the Grand Slam and came into the third-round clash having won more tour level claycourt matches than anyone else in 2020.
Bidding to become just the second Norwegian player to reach the fourth round at a Grand Slam - his father Christian reached the last 16 at the 1997 Australian Open - Ruud gave a good account of himself but it was not enough.
His highlight was a brilliant 'tweener' lob, hit between his legs, during the second set which landed on the baseline with Thiem scampering back from the net but unable to return.
"I'm very happy. It was a great match, I didn't make any mistakes," Thiem said in a courtside interview. "Casper is a really great player, very attractive to play. I think there were many good rallies. It was a good match from both of us.
"The conditions are very nice to play under the roof, no wind, so the court is perfect and everything is prepared for great matches like that."
The 27-year-old, who won his maiden Grand Slam in New York last month, next meets either former French Open champion Stan Wawrinka or local hope Hugo Gaston.
Rafael Nadal has been utterly ruthless so far and that continued against Italian Stefano Travaglia.
The 12-time champion needed just an hour and 35 minutes to win 6-1 6-4 6-0 and has dropped just 19 games in his three matches.
He will next face American Sebastian Korda - the son of former grand slam champion Petr Korda - who is through to the fourth round of a slam for the first time.
The 20-year-old extended his amazing run to book a last-16 clash against his idol Nadal, with an impressive 6-4 6-3 6-1 victory over fellow qualifier Pedro Martinez of Spain.
Italian rising star Jannik Sinner barged into the fourth round with a 6-3 7-5 7-5 victory against Argentine Federico Coria.
The 19-year-old, winner of the NextGen ATP Finals last year, relied on his massive forehand to subdue the younger brother of 2004 Roland Garros runner-up Guillermo Coria.
Coria was in the mix courtesy of his opponent's unforced errors but Sinner's pace and poise helped him recover from being down a break in the third set to wrap up a straightforward win on court 13.
Sinner will play his first fourth round match at a Grand Slam against German sixth seed Alexander Zverev or his compatriot Marco Cecchinato.
