Kei Nishikori had a straightforward 7-5 6-4 won over Adrian Mannarino in the last 32 at the Paris Masters.
The Japanese 10th seed, 28, did not face a single break point as he defeated the home crowd favourite in one hour and 27 minutes to progress.
Nishikori crucially broke the Frenchman at 5-5 in the first set and 3-3 in the second to set up the win.
He will meet seventh seed Kevin Anderson or Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili in the next round.
On Court One, John Isner beat Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-1).