Novak Djokovic was forced to overcome injury problems to battle past Pablo Carreno Busta and reach the French Open semi-final.
The world number one, who faced Carreno Busta at the US Open last month when he was disqualified for striking a line judge with a ball, found the Spaniard a tough opponent once again.
The 17th seed took the first set 6-4 with Djokovic clearly hampered by neck and arm injuries sustained before the match.
But Djokovic summoned hs inner strength to seal a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 victory after more tha three hours of play on Philippe-Chatrier.
Going into this match, Djokovic had been in the best form of his clay career - maintaining an unbeaten record in sets and even preventing his opponents from winning more than four games in a set.
But this would be a different test. Djokovic had been spotted receiving treatment on his neck on the practice courts and looked hampered when serving during the match, struggling to find accuracy on his serve and power to go with it.
He was twice broken in the set and Carreno Busta took full advantage to secure the first set.
But after a short medical timeout with the trainer, Djokovic came back looking focused and energised, dropping just two games on his way to levelling the match.
And the 33-year-old gradually found a way to cope with his problems, producing his best tennis in a supreme third-set display with Carreno Busta fading badly.
Despite some resistance from Carreno Busta in the fourth, Djokovic never looked like losing control and wrapped up a closely-fought set in xx minutes.
Djokovic will play Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in Sunday's final after he cruised past Andrey Rublev in straight sets and will now have two days to rest his neck and arm ahead of the clash.
The 17-time Grand Slam winner remains on course to face Rafael Nadal in the final at Roland Garros, with the Spaniard facing Diego Schwartzman of Argentina.
