While the rain will have depressed many people who had tickets for Sunday’s action, those with tickets for Monday will have enjoyed the Parisian version of Manic Monday with the top players from both tours crammed on courts, and organizers praying for steady weather.

Andy Murray was the first of the Big Four to take to the courts, looking to beat Jeremy Chardy for the second time in as many tournaments, although there was a touch of friction coming into the match. The Frenchman did not pull any punches in his annoyance at Murray withdrawing from Rome after beating him, but Murray defended his position, having won two clay titles in two weeks thanks to some inclement weather and questionable scheduling.

Chardy always looked to be pressing. He broke Murray's serve four times, and he rallied to claim the second set after dropping the first. But that was about all that the French crowd had to cheer about, as Murray claimed the next two sets routinely to book his berth in the quarterfinals.

Murray remained nonchalant after the match, saying “Throughout the course of the match, I was creating many more opportunities than him. I wasn't overly concerned. I just had to take my chances when they came. I did that in the third and fourth sets.”

He will face David Ferrer, and although he leads the gritty Spaniard 9-6 in their head to head, he has never beaten him on clay. Murray lost to Ferrer in the 2012 French Open quarterfinals in four sets.

Hot on their heels, Roger Federer scorched past Gael Monfils in the resumption of their held-over fourth-round match. With the pair having split sets, it came down to a best-of-three shoot-out, and Federer came out firing. With the tone set with an immediate break of serve for the Swiss in the third set, he completely dominated the Frenchman in the fourth set to set up an all-Swiss quarterfinal against Stan Wawrinka. Federer now has been on the schedule of play for three days in a row.

There was more French woe to come, as Richard Gasquet wilted like a day-old baguette at the hands of world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who marched into the quarterfinal that everyone is waiting for. But what of the other end of that bracket? La Decima looked to be rapidly on the cards for Rafael Nadal, who was facing Jack Sock.

Nadal was brutal in the first two sets, but a lot of credit has to go to the American, who never gave up battling. Sock was finally rewarded with a decisive break and ultimately the third set. It was a mere glitch as Nadal put the pedal to the metal in the final set to set up the clash with the world No. 1 that took all the focus during the Roland Garros men’s draw.

Nadal leads Djokovic 23-20 in their head to head, but he lost to him in the Monte Carlo semifinals earlier this year. This is the Grand Slam that Djokovic craves, having won all of the others at least once each. After losing to Nadal in the semifinals in 2013 (what many saw as the de facto final that year) and in the final last year, many feel this will be Djokovic’s time.

It will remain to be seen if the eventual winner comes from that quarterfinal, but on paper this seems probable. Meanwhile, action begins tomorrow for the quarterfinals at 2pm CET.