By Miles Evans
PARIS (Reuters) - Serbian Novak Djokovic continued his serene progress through the men's draw with an ultimately comfortable 6-4 2-6 6-1 6-2 victory over American Robby Ginepri to book his place in the French Open quarter-finals on Monday.
Ginepri, looking to mark U.S. Memorial Day with a first career win over Djokovic, went toe-to-toe with the third seed and won his first set in five meetings against the Serbian with some sweet baseline strokes in the second set.
The American 27-year-old was unlucky to lose the opener having enjoyed the more confident service games and failing to convert three break points on the Djokovic serve -- two of which arrived at 4-4.
But the Serb broke to take it in game 10, before his game fell off as Ginepri, his white baseball cap facing backwards, powered to the second with two breaks in a 33-minue set.
Ginepri cheered the crowd with an impromptu series of push-ups after slipping to retrieve a Djokovic passing shot but he was broken in the same game as the Serb went on to wrap up the last two sets with some crisp hitting.
Djokovic, watched by an entourage packed tightly into the guest box on Court Philippe Chatrier, sealed victory in two hours and 17 minutes when Ginepri netted a defensive forehand.
"Once again I came out on top," Djokovic told a courtside interviewer. "I'm in great shape for the second week of the tournament."
He will play Austrian 22nd seed Jurgen Melzer or Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili for a place in the semi-finals.
(Editing by Martyn Herman)
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.