Roger Federer survived two match points against Gael Monfils to extend his claycourt comeback and reach the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open.
He was joined in the last eight by five-times Madrid champion Rafael Nadal and world number one Novak Djokovic.
The evergreen Federer did not drop a game in a dominant first set but was dragged into an intense battle by an inspired Monfils before prevailing 6-0 4-6 7-6(3).
Federer surrendered the initiative after his brisk start and was in deep trouble in the third set when he trailed 4-1.
Federer struggled with his timing on occasions in breezy, sunny conditions and swatted a ball angrily over the stands when he dropped serve at the start of the decider.
But the Swiss broke back in the seventh game with a stunning sliced backhand return.
Monfils earned a match point at 5-6 on the Federer serve with an ice-cool backhand pass, but Federer followed in a second serve and bounced away a smash.
Federer saved another match point to set up a tiebreak and he proved unstoppable as he swept to his 1,200th match win.
Dominic Thiem, a beaten finalist in Madrid last year, awaits in the next round after he beat Italian Fabio Fognini.
"I think Gael did a nice job of not being frustrated losing the first set," Federer said. "I lost five games in a row and it didn't look good for a while but I hung in. There were some highly stressful moments but I mixed it up nicely."
