PARIS (REUTERS) - Never mind the 16 double-faults, Kristina Mladenovic downed defending champion Garbine Muguruza 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, sending the Roland Garros crowd into raptures as their darling reached the quarter-finals of the French Open on Sunday.

After a jittery opening set, Spanish fourth-seed Muguruza rallied, but 13th-seeded Frenchwoman Mladenovic perfectly played the key points in the decider to set up a meeting with Swiss Timea Bascinszky.

Mladenovic, who has been hampered by back problems, leads the tournament in terms of double faults, having served 40 of them since it started.

Even though she won on Sunday, she added a big contribution to that total.

Mladenovic has been tipped as one of the tournament favourites after reaching the finals in Stuttgart and Madrid on clay this season.

With Alize Cornet taking on Caroline Garcia in the fourth round on Monday, two Frenchwomen will be in the last eight for the first time since 1994.

That year, Mary Pierce, the last Frenchwoman to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup in 2000, reached the final, losing to Spaniard Arantxa Sanchez.