Emma Raducanu survives injury scare to march on at the Korea Open

Raducanu was forced to take a medical time out in the first set but battled to a 6-4 6-3 win over eighth seed Yuan Yue

Emma Raducanu reached the quarter-finals of the Korea Open after beating eighth seed Yuan Yue in straight sets.

The 21-year-old needed seven match points to clinch a hard-fought 6-4 6-3 victory over the eighth seed. Raducanu edged ahead following a close first set and powered ahead at the start of the second, holding off a comeback from Yuan and serving eight aces during the second set.

Raducanu had battled past American Peyton Stearns in the previous round to set up the meeting with Yuan, which was incredibly tight in the opening stages. The momentum shifted when some solid forehands allowed Raducanu to level at 4-4 and she broke Yuan's serve in the following game to go in front.

After taking a medical timeout, the Briton then successfully served out the set and quickly picked up where she left off to take control in the second set, breaking Yuan's serve in the opening game before extending her lead in the second, which included two aces. She won her sixth straight game of the match to go 3-0 up but was broken in the fourth game as Yuan pulled one back and the Chinese player looked to pile on the pressure.

Although Yuan looked like she was beginning to find her rhythm, Raducanu fought back to hold serve and extend her lead further in a close sixth game. The eighth game produced seven deuces and Raducanu missed five match points before Yuan eventually held serve, but the Briton stopped any chance of a late comeback by wrapping up victory in the following game.

"I think the rest of the year, as long as I'm healthy, I'm going to try and finish the season and play as many matches as I can," said Raducanu ahead of the match. "It's something I'm really light on since the grass through the (Washington) DC period. I've not played many points, even in practice.

"So, as gruelling as (the match against Stearns) was, I think I had three hours of match experience which can only aid me going into the next few weeks. For me now, I just want to play matches and, in the meantime, do a little bit of work on my game where I can."

With no ranking points to defend, Raducanu has a big opportunity to push on from her current standing of 70th in the world over the next few weeks.

"This is one of my favourite weeks on the calendar," she said. "In my match, no matter how bad I was playing, I just wanted to keep playing here because I like it. Korean food is my favourite, so I've really just been enjoying my time here.

"Playing in China, I've never done that, so that's going to be a first for me. I feel pretty comfortable in this environment, which is an advantage. I stacked the year on the backend heavy, because I'm excited. I thrive in Asia."