Emma Raducanu fought back from 5-0 down in the first set to beat Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan in the last 16 at the Transylvania Open in Romania.
In her second match since splitting with coach Francis Roig, Raducanu won 11 games in a row on the way to securing a 7-5, 6-1 victory.
“Thank you for the support, it really got me through some tricky moments in that first set,” said the British number one.
“Kaja was playing some great tennis, putting me on the back foot straight away.
“I thought I was being aggressive, going for my shots, but I was missing and not executing. At least I could say that I was trying to play on my terms, so that was the goal for me.
“I don’t think I’ve ever come back from 5-0 down before, so that’s a first to add to the experience.”
Raducanu will play Poland’s Maja Chwalinska in the quarter-finals.
Raducanu had been on the brink of losing the opening set against Juvan but a cross-court forehand winner helped her break in the sixth game and she finally got on the scoreboard.
An improving Raducanu, who is the top seed at the WTA 250 event, broke twice more to level at 5-5 as world number 97 Juvan failed to serve out for the set on three occasions.
The 23-year-old gave out a scream and fist pump as she held to go into a 6-5 lead before taking her second set point in the next game.
Raducanu saved a break point in the first game of the second set before breaking Juvan to love to take control of the match.
She was broken at 4-0 up to end her run of 11 games in a row but took the next two games to win in one hour and 37 minutes.
Kartal beats lucky loser after Bencic withdraws
Great Britain’s Sonay Kartal beat lucky loser Renata Zarazua to reach the last eight of the Abu Dhabi Open after original opponent – and defending champion – Belinda Bencic withdrew through illness.
World number nine Bencic became the first mother to win a WTA singles title since May 2023 when she beat Ashlyn Krueger in last year’s final, just four months after returning from maternity leave.
Kartal, who came through two qualifying matches before beating Spain’s Cristina Busca in round one, was on court for just 57 minutes as she overcame Mexico’s Zarazua 6-0, 6-3.
The British number two and world number 61 will face 20-year-old Czech Sara Bejlek in the quarter-finals.
Fellow Briton Katie Boulter reached the last eight at the Ostrava Open with a straight-sets victory over Swiss fifth seed Viktorija Golubic.
Boulter, 29, dropped just two games in each set to set up a meeting with either fourth seed Rebecca Sramkova or Linda Fruhvirtova.
It is the first time she has won back-to-back main-draw singles matches since the Nottingham Open in June.
