Great Britain's Emma Raducanu survived a nerve-wracking finale to reach the quarter-finals of the Korea Open with a straight-sets victory over China's Yue Yuan.
The former US Open champion came up trumps 6-4 6-3 over the eighth seed, but the scoreline did not tell the full story by any stretch, as she took just over two hours to progress at the end of an epic final exchange.
Raducanu had the chance to serve for the match at 5-2 up in the second set, but the 21-year-old let no fewer than five match points slip, thanks partly to some errors on her side and an array of crucial winners from her Chinese opponent.
Yuan also squandered three chances for a break back in the eighth game before finally converting her fourth, bringing an end to an extraordinary 19-point game as the eighth seed kept fighting that little bit longer.
However, Raducanu had also demonstrated her powerful returns throughout the second-round showdown - especially on Yuan's second serves - and brought up another three match points in the ninth game.
The Briton let another one pass her by, but on her sixth chance to seal her place in the quarter-finals, Raducanu witnessed a Yuan drive land long before throwing her arms up in relief and celebration.
"My key to the success is trying to let go of any frustration closing out the match. Just staying focused and breaking in that last game," Raducanu said on the court. "I love playing in Korea, I love Seoul, it's one of my favourite cities."
Raducanu - who also posted 11 aces on a hot and humid evening - will face either top seed Daria Kasatkina or the USA's Hailey Baptiste in the quarter-finals. body check tags ::
