BRITISH number one Johanna Konta secured a place in the quarter-finals of the China Open with a rain-hit 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7/2) victory over Karolina Pliskova in Beijing.
Konta, aiming to force her way into contention for the WTA Finals in Singapore later this month, had moved into a 4-1 lead following an early break against the world number six before the players were taken off the Lotus Court.
The 25-year-old 11th seed, though, picked up where she had left off when back in action, breaking the Czech again before wrapping up the first set in just 27 minutes of action.
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Pliskova, however, produced a recovery in the second set, eventually breaking Konta at the seventh attempt in a tight sixth game to lead 4-2 and then closing out her own service to level the contest.
Both players then failed to hold serve in a tense decider, although Konta saved three break points to lead 6-5 before Pliskova forced the tie-break.
It was Konta who remained composed, the Briton making the most of an early mini-break to open up a 4-1 lead, which she pushed home to seal a place in the last eight against either fourth seed Simona Halep or Chinese player Zhang Shuai.
Konta, ranked 14th in the world, is currently ninth in the race to Singapore with the top eight qualifying for the tournament.
Elsewhere, there was a shock over on the National Tennis Stadium court, where top seed and world number one Angelique Kerber lost in straight sets 6-3 7-5 to Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
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