Rafael Nadal continued his march towards a record-extending 11th French Open title with an authoritative straight-sets victory against Richard Gasquet.
The defending champion at Roland Garros came into the meeting with a perfect record against the French player from their previous encounters and made it 16 wins in total with a 6-3 6-2 6-2 victory.
Nadal, who is yet to lose a set from his opening three rounds, will next face Maximilian Marterer after the German had earlier defeated lucky loser Jurgen Zopp 6-2 6-1 6-4.
"I played very well, I'm sorry for Richard, he is a good friend and a good person," said Nadal.
The overwhelming favourite in the men's draw began the match in emphatic fashion as he won the first 12 points of the match on his way to opening up a 5-0 lead. Gasquet showed some fight to earn a break but Nadal took the first set to take charge.
Early breaks of serve in both the second and third sets for Nadal ensured he maintained his control on proceedings and despite the best efforts of the home crowd, it was the Spanish player who reached the fourth round stage at a Grand Slam for the 40th time in his career.
There was further disappointment for the French supporters as Gael Monfils squandered four match points in the fourth set against David Goffin, as the Belgian secured a 6-7(6-8) 6-3 4-6 7-5 6-3 victory to book a last-16 tie with Italy's Marco Cecchinato.
French No 1 Lucas Pouille, who had defeated Cameron Norrie in the second round, resumed his third-round match against Karen Khachanov trailing by two sets and the Russian completed a 6-3 7-5 6-3 success, which sees him meet second seed Alexander Zverev next.
Kevin Anderson, world No 7, equalled his best run at Roland Garros with progress past Mischa Zverev after the South African avoided being taken into a fifth set with a 6-1 6-7(3-7) 6-3 7-6(7-4) win against the German.
He will next face 11th seed Diego Schwartzman after the diminutive Argentine underlined his clay court capability with a 7-5 6-3 6-3 victory against the unseeded Borna Coric.