Elena Rybakina saved six match points as she edged past Paula Badosa 4-6 7-6(8) 7-6(2) in Dubai.
The Kazakh has had a rough year off the court but has produced consistent results on the court and had one of her best wins of the year in Dubai.
Six match points were saved from Rybakina as she edged past an in-form Paula Badosa with the match lasting nearly three hours long.
Badosa had four match points in the second set tiebreak before Rybakina stormed back to take the second set tiebreak 10-8.
In the final set Rybakina broke in the opening game and served for the match before Badosa showed her character to break back and created two more match points in the 12th game.
However Rybakina came up with some clutch moments as she saved the match points and took the final set tiebreak 7-2 to reach the last eight.
Now Rybakina will face Sofia Kenin in the last eight after the American knocked out defending champion Jasmine Paolini.
Meanwhile Iga Swiatek won the final eight games against Dayana Yastremska to reach the last eight in Dubai.
After the match Swiatek was relieved to advance to the quarter-finals, “I knew I had many opportunities to break Dayana on her serve, so I just wanted to be consistent with my service games and I knew the chances are going to come,” the world number two told the WTA website.
“We have many girls on tour right now who are heavy hitters and they risk it. If it’s in, it’s impossible to get it. If it’s out, you grab these points and be grateful for them. It’s not easy — you have to have a lot of patience and acceptance.”
Swiatek will now face 12th seed Mirra Andreeva for a place in the semi-finals with Swiatek leading the head-to-head 1-0.
