Tuesday 3 June 2014 06:25, UK
The French Open quarter-finals get under way at Roland Garros on Tuesday with Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic headlining on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Sharapova takes on Spain's Garbine Muguruza for a place in the last four as she looks to land her fifth Grand Slam title.
The 2012 winner and last year's runner-up deployed her famous competitive fire to battle past Sam Stosur to reach the last eight.
Seventh-seeded Sharapova is now the bookmakers' favourite in the women's draw, but the world No 35 won't be a pushover after knocking out world No 1 and defending champion Serena Williams in round two.
"Our job is to play the opponent that we're facing on that particular day. That’s how I look at things, I don't get too far ahead of myself," said Sharapova.
Meanwhile, men's second seed Novak Djokovic is still pursuit of his first French Open title, but showed his credentials after brushing aside French favourite Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in the last round with a breathtaking display of claycourt tennis.
The Serb former world No 1 now takes on another big-hitter in the shape of Milos Raonic.
The eighth seed will be the first Canadian man to play a Grand Slam quarter-final since Mike Belkin at the 1968 Australian Open.
"I’m not surprised to make by first Grand Slam quarter-final but I would not have thought I would have done it first here on clay," said Raonic after his victory against Spain's Marcel Granollers. "I've always felt I could play well on clay
"The key is not making much of a change in my game just for the clay. I've been trying to keep what I've been doing on the hardcourts."
Despite having lost to Djokovic in three sets at the Rome Masters earlier this season, Raonic will fancy his chances of causing a major upset.
Over on Court Suzanne Lenglen, Raonic's compatriot Eugenie Bouchard takes on Spanish 14th seed Carla Suarez Navarro.
Bouchard became the first Canadian woman to make the last eight in Paris since Helen Kelesi in 1989 and after dominating German Angelique Kerber for the loss of just three games to win her ninth straight match, she will be buoyed against the hardworking and competitive Suarez Navarro.
Finally, Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych faces Roger Federer's conqueror Ernests Gulbis.
Berdych will be aiming to reach his first French Open semi-final since 2010, while Gulbis, who claimed the biggest win of his career against the 17-time Grand Slam champion Federer in the fourth round, will hope to continue his excellent form this season with a first major semi-final appearance.
The Latvian already reached the semi-finals in Barcelona before securing his sixth ATP title in Nice just before Roland Garros.
