Novak Djokovic Beats Albert Ramos-Vinolas at 2017 French Open

No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic survived a grueling first set against No. 19 Albert Ramos-Vinolas at the French Open on Sunday and seized control of the match from there, winning 7-6, 6-1, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals.

It's Djokovic's eighth straight trip to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros as he seeks to repeat as champion. Awaiting him will be the No. 6 seed, Dominic Thiem.

The epic first set between the men lasted 73 minutes and resulted in Djokovic winning the tiebreaker 7-5. It appeared the favored Djokovic was perhaps in for a long day, but he responded to the battle of attrition in the first set by steamrolling Ramos-Vinolas in the second.

Ramos-Vinolas looked weary at times in that set and Djokovic clearly had him on the ropes, but the Spaniard didn't go down without a fight. The two men battled once again in a third set that featured several epic points, including a 41-shot rally that was arguably the point of the tournament thus far.

His win also put him in rare company, per ESPN Stats & Information: 

Djokovic controlled the match with his powerful serve, winning 72 percent of his first-serve points, per RolandGarros.com. He was also excellent at the net, winning 13 of 18 net points, and converted seven of his 10 break points. He hit 34 winners overall.

Djokovic's win means seven of the top eight seeds remain in the running, with No. 4 Rafael Nadal also advancing to the quarterfinals Sunday.

The last two rounds at the French Open haven't exactly been smooth sailing for Djokovic, as Diego Schwartzman forced five sets against him in Round 3. Djokovic's next opponent, Thiem, has won 33 matches on the year and has yet to drop a set in his four French Open wins.

"If I play him, I have to change something compared to the past matches," Thiem said earlier on Sunday about the possibility of facing Djokovic, per ATPWorldTour.com. "I also have some experience playing against him now. I'll talk to my coach and my team, maybe change something up and hope that I play a good match on Tuesday."

Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 5-0 and will once again be the clear favorite. But given his last two matches and Thiem's excellent form, their quarterfinal contest should be tightly contested.