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The 36 year-old lost to the Italian in the same competition a year ago but made no mistakes this time around to secure his place in the last eight with a 7-5 6-3 victory.

Djokovic said he does not think he is at his “top level” but is now set to face Alex de Minaur for a semi-final berth.

The Australian assured himself of a clash with Djokovic after a comfortable 6-3 6-4 victory over compatriot Alexei Popyrin.

Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev was beaten 6-3 7-5 by Karen Khachanov to end a rocky week in Monaco a day on from being asked by an umpire not to shout at a line judge.

Khachanov’s reward is a quarter-final against Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Greek having overcome Alexander Zverev 7-5 7-5 (3).

Second seed Jannik Sinner cruised through with a 6-4 6-2 over Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.

That sets up a quarter-final tie with Holger Rune, who came through both his round of 32 and round of 16 games on Thursday across six sets.

Firstly, he beat qualifier Sumit Nagal 6-3 3-6 6-2 before moving on to a three-and-a-half-hour clash with Grigor Dimitrov which he eventually won 7-6 (9) 3-6 7-6 (2).

Friday’s upcoming schedule was completed as Casper Ruud beat Hubert Hurkacz 6-4 6-2 and will meet Ugo Humbert who recovered from a set down to beat Lorenzo Sonego 7-5 6-3 6-1.