By the end of only the third five-setter Rafael Nadal had played in 112 career matches at Roland Garros, as the Sun and temperature descended and the chants of "Ra-fa! Ra-fa!" filled the evening air, the man known as the king of clay showed precisely what this meant to him.

With every sprint-slide-and-stretch to reach a seemingly unreachable shot off the yellow racket of his opponent, Felix Auger-Aliassime; with every right-to-a-corner winner; with every well-struck volley, Nadal would hop or throw an uppercut or scream "Vamos!" — and, often, all of the above.

Nadal got through his first serious test of this French Open by beating ninth seed Auger-Aliassime 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 across nearly four and a half hours of even, entertaining tennis in the fourth round on Sunday at Court Philippe Chatrier.

"That's why I am just trying to enjoy as much as possible."

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And the reward for coming through this one? A tantalising match-up against rival Novak Djokovic in Tuesday's quarter-finals.

Nadal improved to 3-0 in five-set matches at the clay-court tournament he has dominated the way no-one ever has dominated any grand slam event. Overall, he is 109-3 here, and two of those defeats came against Djokovic, including in last year's semifinals in their most recent showdown.

The significance of the rivalry: Tuesday's meeting will be their 59th, more than any other two men have played each other in the sport's professional era. Djokovic leads 30-28, although Nadal has a 7-2 advantage at the French Open.

"We have a lot of history together," said Nadal — who attended Saturday night's Champions League final, which was won by his favourite club, Real Madrid — and did not get back to his room until after midnight.

Looking at the larger picture, the former world number one Nadal's record 13 championships at Roland Garros are part of his haul of 21 grand slam trophies, a record for men. The current world number one, Djokovic, twice the title winner at the French Open, is just one behind Nadal in the total slam count, tied with Roger Federer at 20.

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Djokovic beat 15th-seeded Diego Schwartzman 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 earlier on Sunday. And he has won all 12 sets he has played in the tournament.

The other quarterfinal in their half of the men's bracket is between number third seed Alexander Zverev, the 2020 US Open runner-up, and sixth seed Carlos Alcaraz, the 19-year-old from Spain who leads the tour with four titles this year.

Zverev beat 131st-ranked qualifier Bernabe Zapata Miralles 7-6 (13/11), 7-5, 6-3, and Alcaraz displayed a back-to-the-net, between-the-legs lob while wrapping up the day's schedule with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory over number 21 seed Karen Khachanov.

Two women's quarterfinals were set, too: 18-year-old Coco Gauff against 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens in an all-American match-up, and 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez of Canada against 59th-ranked Martina Trevisan of Italy.

The remaining fourth-round matches are on Monday.

Wrapped in souvenir orange French Open towels and blankets of various hues, spectators appreciated every last drop of drama, singing both players' first names and rising to their feet to applaud the many spectacular exchanges.

One member of the audience, however, did not stick around for the fifth set: Toni Nadal, who is Rafael's uncle and coached him to 16 of his grand slam titles but now is helping coach Auger-Aliassime.

Uncle Toni, as he is known to many, stayed away from both players' guest boxes — how could he choose a side? — and instead sat in the front row right behind one of the baselines, applauding both men's winners and avoiding showing any delight derived from anyone's miscues, until departing at the outset of the deciding set.

He missed quite a finish.

"He raised his level when he needed to," Auger-Aliassime said.

Nadal had not dropped a set in the tournament until facing Auger-Aliassime, a 21-year-old from Canada equipped with a big serve and forehand.

"I suffered," Nadal said.

Since starting the season with a 20-0 record, including an Australian Open title in January when Djokovic was not allowed to participate because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19, Nadal has dealt with a rib injury and a recurrence of the chronic pain in his left foot that has troubled him for years.

He had said repeatedly in Paris that he had no idea how well he would be able to play.

If he was hurting on Sunday, it was impossible to know. And, more to the point, impossible to tell. His movement was unhindered, his relentlessness intact.

He will have time to recover and get ready himself to take on Djokovic, who spent roughly half as much time on court on Sunday.

AP