British number one Emma Raducanu advanced to her third WTA Tour quarter-final of 2022 with a straight sets win over Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer at the Korea Open.
The 19-year-old had survived a late scare to get the better of Japan's Moyuka Uchijima in the first round and was far from perfect in her second-round battle with Wickmayer.
Raducanu ultimately got the job done 6-3 7-5 to advance to the last eight of the WTA 250 tournament, as she broke to love in the fifth game of the opening set.
A double fault from the former US Open champion would immediately see Wickmayer level the contest at 3-3, but Raducanu responded by winning the next three games to take the first set.
As was the case in her first-round match, Raducanu limited her opponent to very few points on second serves in the first set and immediately went 3-0 up in the second before lightning nearly struck twice.
Uchijima threatened a second-set comeback against Raducanu in the first round, and she was broken in the seventh game as Wickmayer levelled at 4-4 from a 4-1 deficit.
Despite missing one match point at 5-4, Raducanu regained her composure to conclude a two-set victory in one hour and 40 minutes, during which she made six double faults but also hit nine aces.
The world number 77 also ended with a 71% win rate on her second serves - compared to a measly 22% for Wickmayer - and she will meet Poland's Magda Linette for a place in the semi-finals.
Ben Knapton
