If love conquers all, Gustavo Kuerten already has one hand on the French Open crown.
The Brazilian's lasting romance with Paris and the Roland Garros centre court crowd enjoyed another twist on Monday when he meandered into the quarter-finals of the claycourt Grand Slam.
His 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Spain's Feliciano Lopez thrilled the Parisian crowd and was a triumph of determination over pain, the Brazilian shrugging off a hip injury to progress.
"I have such feelings for this place," he said. "I always surprise myself here."
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Nalbandian's victory means there are four Argentines in the quarter-finals of the men's singles at a Grand Slam event for the first time. Third seed Guillermo Coria, Juan Ignacio Chela and Gaston Gaudio are the three others.
Safin struck a forlorn figure as clouds gathered above Roland Garros.
The mighty Russian, suffering from severe blisters on his hands, was powerless to prevent Nalbandian advancing.
"My hands are bleeding... I couldn't play at the end," he said, holding up his palms as he sloped off court.
Lleyton Hewitt joined Kuerten and Nalbandian in the quarters.
His 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 win over Belgium's Xavier Malisse was testament to his fitness and dogged determination against a gifted but indisciplined opponent.
"VERY PAINFUL"
The Australian -- a former U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion -- will face Gaudio next after the Argentine ended Russian Igor Andreev's run 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.
Champion here in 1997, 2000 and 2001, Kuerten endeared himself to the Paris crowd long ago, and every time he takes to the Roland Garros centre court, the stands ring with fans chanting his name.
On Saturday that support helped him to beat world number one Roger Federer in the third round. On Monday it helped him block out the pain of a persistent hip injury.
"After my surgery (in 2002) my hip is not able to work as before," the 27-year-old said.
"It's sometimes very painful and frustrating on court. If I am out there trying hard for one hour I start to get some pain in my leg.
"But when you are playing tournaments like this, in the quarter-finals, with your adrenalin high, you can bear a lot more than in practice or in the early rounds.
"The reality of being in the quarter-finals again is special for me, maybe more special than when I beat Roger."
Hewitt, who reached the last eight in 2001, was simply too consistent throughout his match and eased to victory against the gifted but inconsistent Malisse.
The Belgian, who beat former French Open champion Albert Costa in the previous round, found 12th seed Hewitt an even tougher proposition as the Australian made him fight for every point.
After winning a tight first set, Hewitt raced through the second and though Malisse served for the third set at 5-3 and had five set points, Hewitt held on to clinch victory.
Nalbandian's win over Safin put him into the quarter-finals of the French for the first time.
"I am very, very happy to reach this stage," he said, before sympathising with Safin for the state of his hands.
Safin, who reached the fourth round with two draining five-set wins, bravely played through the pain of several blisters on his left hand but finally ran out of steam on centre court.
