With no former champions left in the field, pregnant Serena Williams watching from the sidelines and Maria Sharapova not invited to compete, third seed Halep has a golden opportunity to break into the grand slam winners' circle.
Monday's evidence suggested the Romanian may be ready for it.
"I was expecting a tough game against a very good claycourt player," Halep said. "But I managed to push her back.
"I feel very, very good now. I think I played the best match here in Roland Garros against Carla, which always was a tough match. And on clay, I never won against her, so it was a really good match. I played exactly what I had to."
There could be no arguments from any observers or from Suarez Navarro who appeared stunned at the outcome.
"The result speaks for itself," the Spaniard told reporters. "I was late.
"She played flawless tennis. I had some opportunities but I didn't convert them. I paid the price for it."
Next Halep will meet fifth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who dug deep to produce her best tennis in adversity, beating Croatian qualifier Petra Martic 4-6 6-3 7-5.
Martic, ranked 290th in the world after a 10-month injury layoff last year, was two points from victory at 5-2, 30-0 on her opponent's serve, but Svitolina unleashed a barrage of winners to claim 20 of the last 26 points.
"I decided to give everything I had and stay strong mentally. I hope I will recover from my injury," said Svitolina, who received on-court treatment on her lower back at the beginning of the decider.
Martic, playing in the fourth round here for the second time, was no pushover. She had beaten two seeded players in previous rounds and was close to adding a third to her list when she served for the match at 5-3.
But Svitolina suddenly found her range, hitting seven winners and an ace in the last three games before Martic bowed out on the second match point when she sent a backhand into the net.
