Third seed Marcos Baghdatis survived a second tough test in less than 24 hours to progress to the quarter-finals of the China Open on Wednesday with a 7-6 6-4 victory over Taiwan's Wang Yeu-Tzuoo.
The Cypriot needed a third-set tiebreak to overcome German Denis Gremelmayr late on Tuesday and was equally tested by Wang, who was cheered on by a crowd delighted to see a Chinese man competing with one of the world's top players.
Wang never gave an inch without a fight and exploited the world number nine's lapses of concentration to force a tiebreak in the first set and break Baghdatis early in the second.
Baghdatis, however, drew on the competitive spirit he so amply displayed in a five-set defeat to Andre Agassi at the US Open two weeks ago to break back and then break the stubborn Wang's service again.
He finally secured the victory with a crosscourt winner after an hour and 39 minutes and will next face Thai Danai Udomchoke, who progressed when Croatia's seventh seed Ivo Karlovic retired while 6-2 3-1 down.
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