Novak Djokovic booked his place in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open with a 6-1 7-6 (7-2) win over Jeremy Chardy.
The Serbian world No.1 made light work of his French opponent on the clay in the first set but struggled in the second.
Djokovic saved set point at 4-5 with a fine serve, preserving his record of never having dropped a set against Chardy in 13 matches, going on to seal the tie-break with a forehand winner.
“I was set point down, it could have gone a different way,” said Djokovic, who won in Madrid in 2011 and 2016.
“I wasn’t really thinking about my score against him in that moment, I just wanted to play it well.
“The wind picked up in the second set so it was faster and you had to just pick a position sometimes and kind of rely on your instinct, and it worked well.”
Djokovic will next face Marin Cilic on Friday, after the Croatian beat Laslo Djere 4-6 6-3 6-2.
Dominic Thiem also progressed with a 6-4 7-5 win over Australian John Millman’s conqueror Fabio Fognini of Italy.