PARIS -- Top-seeded Simona Halep advanced to the French Open quarterfinals for the third time by beating Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-1 on Monday.
Halep, who lost in last year's final to Jeļena Ostapenko, broke the 16th-seeded Belgian's serve six times on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Serving for the match, Halep dropped her serve for the first time. She broke right back, winning on her first match point when Mertens double-faulted.
Halep, who also lost in the 2014 final, will next face two-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber.
Kerber reached the quarterfinals in Paris for the second time by beating Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-3.
Garcia saved four match points when serving while trailing 5-1. But Kerber took her next chance when the seventh-seeded Garcia, again serving to stay in the match, hit a forehand wide.
Kerber has never been beyond the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.
Garcia's loss means there are no French men or women remaining in the tournament.
Daria Kasatkina advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time by beating Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki 7-6 (5), 6-3.
The 21-year-old Russian, whose previous best performance at a major was reaching the fourth round at last year's US Open, broke for a 5-3 lead and then served out the match that started Sunday but was suspended by darkness.
"Yeah, it's definitely not easy, but it's the same for both, obviously," Wozniacki said. "You just try and recoup and regroup and come back and get a strong start. I honestly didn't think I played badly this morning. She didn't miss one ball, and she was playing very close to the lines. I was trying what I could, but it just wasn't enough today."
Kasatkina has beaten Wozniacki three times this year. She will next play 10th-seeded Sloane Stephens.
"It's something like dream come true to play on this court, it was my dream since childhood," said Kasatkina. "First time I took a racket in my hand I played like this. It's just the way of my mind."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.