Rafael Nadal overcame a sluggish start and a stiff challenge from Canadian ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime with an enthralling 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win on Sunday to set up a mouth-watering quarterfinal with world number one Novak Djokovic.
This was only the third time in his 112 matches that Nadal was taken to the fifth set at Roland Garros and he ensured he kept his blemish-free record intact, wrapping up the win in four hours and 21 minutes to wild applause from the crowd.
Nadal will hope he can recover in time from the gruelling contest for his next outing, where the reigning champion awaits for their 59th career showdown.
The Spaniard, who will turn 36 on Friday, has lifted the Musketeers' Cup a record 13 times but was ousted in the semifinals last year by Djokovic.
Djokovic completed his victory against Diego Schwartzman on Court Suzanne Lenglen shortly before his long-time rival started his match and the Serb is yet to lose a set in his four rounds.
"We know each other well," Nadal said of Djokovic. "We have a lot of history together. He came here after winning in Rome. For me, it was not an ideal situation to arrive here. But here we are. We are at Roland Garros, it is my favourite place without a doubt.
"The only thing I can tell you, I am going to be focused and try my best. The only thing I can guarantee is that I am going to fight until the end," added the Spaniard, who converted only six of his 22 breakpoint chances in the match.
When asked what he needed to do to win his next match against Djokovic, Nadal said: "I don't know 100%, because I didn't have a close test against him, because my last match against him was last year here.
"I didn't play this kind of match for the last three months, so gonna be a big challenge for me," he said after winning a five-set thriller against Canadian ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.
"Probably he (Djokovic) will be confident. I know how my situation is, and I accept it well. I'm gonna fight for it."
The clash on Court Philippe Chatrier was the second meeting between Nadal and Auger-Aliassime but the first since Toni Nadal began working with the Canadian in 2021.
'Uncle Toni' was part of Nadal's team for the majority of his record 21 Grand Slam singles titles, and the buildup to the contest was dominated by talk of the 61-year-old coaching Auger-Aliassime against his nephew.
Toni Nadal did not sit in the Canadian's box and chose a neutral seat and he would have been pleased with Auger-Aliassime's performance during the opening set.
The 21-year-old showed immense grit and incredible athleticism to win the opening set, earning applause from Nadal on one point when he jumped to make a backhand overhead volley.
Nadal wasted six breakpoint opportunities in the first set but cut down on his errors in the second and made his chance count in the eighth game to break his opponent and level the contest at 1-1.
Nadal got the early break of serve in the third when Auger-Aliassime missed a couple of overhead volleys and another break in the seventh sealed the set and a 2-1 lead for the left-hander.
But the Canadian refused to go away.
After an early trade of service breaks, Auger-Aliassime broke Nadal's delivery a second time to take the contest to a deciding fifth set.
The last time Nadal played a five-setter at Roland Garros was in the 2013 semifinal, when he beat Djokovic.
The Spaniard still had enough left in his tank to clinch the deciding break against Auger-Aliassime in the eighth game and then held his serve, sealing the contest on his first matchpoint with a winner.
"It was a very important victory for me without doubt," Nadal said.
Nadal: I don't know if it's gonna be my last match
Nadal and Djokovic arrived in Paris with contrasting buildups to the claycourt major.
While the Serb looked in top form during his Rome triumph, Nadal was troubled by a chronic foot problem and lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the Madrid quarterfinals before losing to Denis Shapovalov in the third round of the Rome Masters.
"I can't complain much," said Nadal, who will turn 36 on Friday. "I am in quarterfinals of Roland Garros. Two weeks and a half ago ... I even didn't know if I would be able to be here.
"And being honest, every match that I play here, I don't know if it's gonna be my last match here in Roland Garros in my tennis career. That's my situation now.
"I am just trying to enjoy as much as possible and fight as much as I can to keep living the dream that is to keep playing tennis and be back in a very advanced round of Roland Garros, playing against the world number one.
"I hope to be able to give myself a chance to play at the highest level possible and then let's see."
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