Nishikori ends 82-year jinx

Kei Nishikori became the first Japanese man in 82 years to reach the French Open quarterfinals on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Russia's Teymuraz Gabashvili.

Fifth seed Nishikori goes on to face Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who disposed of Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, for a place in the semifinals.

Swiss eighth seed Stan Wawrinka eased into the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win over French 12th seed Gilles Simon.

Wawrinka, who also made the last-eight in 2013 where he lost to Rafael Nadal, will face either second seeded compatriot Roger Federer or home hope Gael Monfils for a place in the last four.

The match between Federer and Monfils was suspended due to poor light late Sunday with the contest level at one set all. It will resume today.

Ana Ivanovic reached last eight for the first time since her 2008 title run where she'll face Elina Svitolina, the first Ukrainian to make the last eight.

But defending champion Maria Sharapova's scheduled last-16 clash against Lucie Safarova was pushed back until Monday after rain caused a lengthy stoppage at a chilly Roland Garros.

The Russian second seed now faces the prospect of playing matches on two successive days with the first two women's quarterfinals already programmed for Tuesday.

Seventh-seeded Serb Ivanovic defeated Russian ninth seed Ekaterina Makarova, a semifinalist at the Australian Open in January, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 to book her eighth career Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Watched again by German World Cup winning football star Bastian Schweinsteiger, the 27-year-old Ivanovic shrugged off a two and a half hour rain stoppage to secure her third three-set win in four rounds in Paris.

The 20-year-old Svitolina beat fellow former Roland Garros junior champion Alize Cornet on a windy, chilly Court Philippe Chatrier 6-2, 7-6 (11/9).

"It's amazing to be in the quarterfinals again. To be honest, coming into the tournament I didn't really expect that at all," said Ivanovic.

"But I really worked hard for each match. I worked hard even before the tournament to reach the quarter-final again."

Svitolina, seeded 19, is only the second Ukrainian woman to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final after Kateryna Bondarenko made the last eight at the 2009 US Open.

It was Svitolina's first win over Cornet in three meetings and the result ended French hopes in the women's singles for another year.

She displayed nerves of steel to achieve victory, failing to serve out the tie in the 10th game of the second set and then allowing five match points to slip through her fingers.

However, she secured victory on her sixth match point when Cornet went long with a backhand, her 42nd unforced error of the windswept tie.

Svitolina will take a 6-0 losing record into her clash with Ivanovic, a run that includes a second round loss in Paris last year and again on clay in Madrid earlier this month.

"I hope I can serve better, of course, because I was serving not so good against her in Madrid," said Svitolina.

With four men's last-16 ties still to be played on Court Philippe Chatrier and Court Suzanne Lenglen, it was decided that Sharapova and Safarova will play their fourth round on Monday instead.