Djokovic wraps up long victory, Murray plays Wawrinka in semis at Roland Garros

Novak Djokovic returns the ball in the French Open, June 1, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

PARIS - World No. 1 Novak Djokovic booked a quarterfinal spot in the French Open in a match waiting for three days to complete on Wednesday, while the last Frenchman in main draw Richard Gasquet was eliminated in last eight.

The 29-year-old Serb, who need an ever first trophy at Roland Garros to complete a career slam, fought back from one set down to see off 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 in a game that was initially scheduled on Monday but twice delayed by rain on Tuesday.

Play resumed on Wednesday from Djokovic leading 4-1 in the third set, and the top seed finished with a forehand volley on his second match point to set up a meeting with Tomas Berdych after the No.7 seed ousted Spain's David Ferrer in straight sets.

With rain creating a compressed schedule, Djokovic will be on court for a third day in a row on Thursday.

Also making quarters in men' s draw are 13th-seeded Dominic Thiem, who' s through to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal following a 6-2, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Marcel Granollers, and David Goffin of Belgium who defeated Ernests Gulbis 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.

Later on Wednesday, defending champion Stan Wawrinka made short effort against Albert Ramos-Vinolas, beating the 55-ranked Spaniard in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7), to make semis.

In the other men' s singles quarterfinal matchup, world No. 2 Andy Murray rallied past 9th-seeded local favorite Gasquet in three hours and 23 minutes, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-0, 6-2.

The Scot plays the third seed Wawrinka in the semifinals on Friday, while Djokovic and the other three advancers on top of the main draw have to play back-to-back quarterfinals on Thursday.

On women' s part, singles title holder Serena Williams was taken just over an hour to see off the 18th seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, 6-1, 6-1.

The 21-time Grand Slam winning American next plays Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, a surprising winner over 12th-seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro with a duo of 7-5 on Wednesday.

The other quarterfinal remaining picks No. 8 seed Timea Bacsinszky and unseeded Dutch Kiki Bertens after the Swiss Bacsinszky ousted Serena' s elder sister Venus Williams 6-2, 6-4, and the latter upset 15th seed Madison Keys 7-6 (4), 6-3.

No. 4 seed Garbine Muguruza and 21st seed Samantha Stosur of Australia made respective easy promotion to set up semifinal encounter against each other.

Also on the day, the ninth seeded pair Xu Yifan and Zheng Saisai, the last Chinese in the French Open main draw, packed home after losing 6-2, 6-4 to Russia' s Margarita Gasparyan and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the women' s doubles quarterfinals.