World No 1 Novak Djokovic survived a huge scare as he fought back from two sets down against teenager Lorenzo Musetti to reach the French Open quarter-finals, after his Italian opponent retired in the fifth set.

Top-seed Djokovic was outplayed by an inspired Musetti as he lost two tiebreaks in the first two sets, but the match then changed dramatically as the Serb fought back to win 6-7(7), 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-0, 4-0 and reach the last eight in Paris for the 15th time. He will play another Italian after Matteo Berrettini was handed a walkover after Roger Federer’s withdrawal.

It was unclear exactly what happened to world number 76 Musetti, whose stylish game was threatening to send Djokovic to his earliest Roland Garros exit since 2009.

Having produced tennis of the highest calibre in two sensational sets, Musetti then lost the third set in 24 minutes and did not even get a point in set four until the fifth game as the match slipped away.

A relieved Djokovic went 4-0 ahead in the decider before Musetti quit, in an anti-climactic end to what was brewing up to be a seismic shock.

“I don’t know, I just played under certain kind of tension and wasn’t able to go through my shots,” Djokovic said.

“But credit to him for playing well in important moments. After I lost the second set and went out to change and came back, I just felt different. I was a different player.”

Rafa Nadal joined Djokovic in the last eight, as a semi-final duel between the pair gets closer, with an straight-sets – 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 – win over Italian 19-year-old Jannik Sinner. Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman is the next man up for Nadal.

Coco Gauff broke new ground by reaching the quarter-finals. The 17-year-old American caused a sensation when she made the fourth round at Wimbledon two years ago, and repeated the feat at the Australian Open in 2020.

Now she has gone one better and, if her form in a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Ons Jabeur is anything to go by, she is a legitimate contender for the title.

Fourth-seed Sofia Kenin became the latest big name to crash out, losing 6-1, 6-3 to Maria Sakkari. Last year’s beaten finalist was the highest seed left.

Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka has pulled out of next week’s Berlin WTA 5000 grass-court tournament, raising doubts about the four-time Grand Slam champion’s participation at Wimbledon and the Olympic Games.