World No. 2 Djokovic extended his unbeaten run to 41 matches in 2011 as the Serb smothered dejected 13th seed Gasquet, who ran out of ideas during a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 tennis lesson.

Djokovic will next face Italian Fabio Fognini, who came out on top in a four-hour-22-minute, five-set battle with Spain's Albert Montanes.

After Djokovic had showed off his devastating racket-wielding powers, the man known as The Joker on the tour chose to entertain the Center Court crowd further.

With the spectators appearing to misunderstand one of his routine answers, he decided to take matters into his own hands - literally - by grabbing the microphone off interviewer Cedric Pioline and quizzed the fans in French: "Eh, everybody, what happened?" His action and impromptu speech in French triggered roars of laughter.

Turning back to Pioline, and still in French, he continued: "Errr, what was the question, please?" One thing Djokovic is unlikely to forget, though, is that should he beat Fognini he will equal John McEnroe's 42-0 record since the start of the year and set up a possible semi-final showdown with Federer. Federer, a 16-times grand slam champion, appeared to be floating through air in a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 dismissal of fellow Swiss Wawrinka as he produced some delectable shots to draw "oohs" and "aahs" from the packed crowd.

But barely anyone noticed women's third seed Vera Zvonareva make an early exit.

Zvonareva had to play in front of rows and rows of empty seats on Court Philippe Chatrier as she was knocked out by fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 in a forgettable fourth round contest.

The 14th seeded Pavlyuchenkova, at 19 the youngest woman left in the draw, reached her first grand slam quarterfinal after winning a topsy-turvy match filled with unforced errors and lost opportunities.

She will meet Francesca Schiavone who's love affair with Roland Garros continued as she dug deep to defeat Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals.

Zvonareva summed up the gloom surrounding women's tennis at this year's French Open, where none of the top three seeds reached the last eight for the first time since tennis turned professional in 1968, by saying: "It's not acceptable at this stage of the grand slam." There was nothing, however, Gasquet could have done against Djokovic.

The Serb was in a class of his own, barely blinking as Gasquet unleashed a series of his trademark sizzling backhands. But the ball would invariably come back. Faster.

Both players set up three break points each in the opening two sets, but while Djokovic saved them, Gasquet conceded two and folded in the third set.

"I'm definitely playing the best tennis of my life," said Djokovic.

"I had two important breaks in the first sets. I played a great match." Federer, the 2009 champion, barely put a foot wrong on the key points against Wawrinka and wrapped up victory on a sun-soaked court in less than two hours.

Federer, who had hollering fans leaping to their feet following a jaw-dropping sliced backhand passing shot down the line, came across a sticky patch, though, when he conceded an early break in the third set.

But he kept his cool to win six of the seven remaining games and sealed his opponent's exit with an ace before giving Wawrinka a sympathetic pat on the back.

Federer, whose remarkable run of reaching 23 consecutive grand slam semifinals was snapped by Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals here 12 months ago, has yet to drop a set in Paris this year.

Next up for him will be either Spanish seventh seed David Ferrer or French ninth seed Gael Monfils.

Laid-back Fabio Fognini became the first Italian man to reach the last eight at Roland Garros since Renzo Furlan in 1995. He beat Spain's Alberto Montanes 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 11-9.

Fognini saved five match points, one with a drop shot, as he fooled around on Court Suzanne Lenglen, notably pouring water on the trainer who came several times in the fifth set to massage and strap his left thigh.