Fifth seed Milos Raonic had only himself to blame after he was dumped out of the French Open fourth round by claycourt specialist Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6 7-6(2) 6-7(6) 6-4 8-6 on Sunday, with the Canadian committing a staggering 84 unforced errors.
The world number six fired an eye-popping 25 aces in an error-ridden performance and fought off six match points before the Spaniard grabbed victory with a volley to earn his first-ever grand slam quarter-final and a matchup with nine-times champion Rafael Nadal.
Carreno Busta, who recorded his first win over a top-10 player after 16 failed attempts, traded sets with Raonic, who had littered the court with errors throughout, before the Canadian grabbed a break to go 3-1 up in the fifth.
The 25-year-old Spaniard responded with a break of his own but wasted three matchpoints at 5-4 and another two at 7-6 before carving out his seventh to finally finish off Raonic with a volley after four hours and 17 minutes.
Meanwhile, Nadal eased into his record-equaling 11th quarter-final by swatting aside Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday.
The nine-time champion matched Roger Federer’s Open era record for appearances in the last eight at Roland Garros.
Nadal secured victory on his third match point when he pushed Bautista Agut to the back of the court with a big forehand that his countryman could only pat back into the net at full stretch.
The 31-year-old Nadal is chasing his 15th Grand Slam title and first since 2014 — when he won at Roland Garros.
No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki also returned to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2010, eliminating 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.
In remaining men’s third-round action, there were wins for No. 8 Kei Nishikori of Japan; No. 15 Gael Monfils of France and unseeded Russian Karen Khachanov.
Nishikori recovered to beat Hyeon Chung 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 0-6, 6-4; Monfils was leading 7-6 (5), 5-7, 4-3 against Richard Gasquet when his countryman retired after getting treatment on his right thigh.
Two weeks past his 21st birthday, Khachanov became the youngest man to reach the fourth round here since 2009, beating 21st-seeded John Isner — the last American man in the tournament — 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3).
In remaining women’s third-round matches, second-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic brushed aside Germany’s Carina Witthoeft 7-5, 6-1; No. 5 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine won 6-4, 7-5 against Magda Linette, and Croatian qualifier Petra Martic upset 17th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova 6-1 6-1.
