British number ones Jack Draper and Katie Boulter both reached respective quarter-finals with emphatic victories in Vienna and Japan on Thursday.
Draper's second-round Erste Bank Open match against Italy's Luciano Darderi ended in a 7-5 6-1 triumph, a few hours after Boulter comfortably conquered Kyoka Okamura 6-1 6-2 at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Draper's one-hour and 16-minute triumph over Darderi came after another straight-sets victory against Kei Nishikori in round one, signalling the US Open semi-finalist's return to form after a few weeks out.
The 22-year-old - who looked fatigued during the Davis Cup after his run to the last four in New York - has evidently benefitted from his recuperation time and hit 34 winners compared to just eight unforced errors in his win over Darderi.
As well as reaching the quarter-finals of the Erste Bank Open for the first time, Draper has now achieved a career-high live ranking of 17th in the world, and he will take on either third seed Grigor Dimitrov or Tomas Machac for a spot in the semi-finals.
"I struggled a little bit on my first round, I served pretty well but off the ground I could have been a lot better. Darderi came out playing incredibly well the first set, he really brought the best of my tennis today," Draper said on the court.
© Imago
"I feel really good, I didn't know what to expect after being injured and being ill last week as well. I was potentially going to be a bit rusty but the last two matches I've been really strong."
Katie Boulter sets up meeting with former Grand Slam champion
Before Draper reached his ninth quarter-final of the year in Vienna, women's number one Boulter dropped just three games in her Toray Pan Pacific second-round showdown against lucky loser Okamura, whom she needed just 69 minutes to defeat.
The ninth seed did not face a single break point over the course of the match and converted five of the seven that she managed to fashion to progress to the last eight, where Bianca Andreescu awaits.
The Canadian - who won the US Open as a teenager in 2019 - took the opening three games of her match against second seed Beatriz Haddad Maia on Wednesday before the Brazilian retired with a back injury.
Ben Knapton
