British number two Dan Evans put Russia's Karen Khachanov to the sword in straight sets to advance to the quarter-finals of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
The 32-year-old took just one hour and 16 minutes to prevail 6-2 6-2 against the world number 18 and set up a quarter-final tie with Taylor Fritz or Denis Shapovalov.
Neither player managed to hold serve until the fourth game of the match, by which point Evans had already broken Khachanov twice and established a 3-1 lead with a love hold.
Evans took just over half an hour to wrap up a first-set win, prevailing in his last three games and hitting eight winners, while Khachanov then squandered a break point in the second game of set two.
Evans quickly clinched the double break in a four-game winning streak and brought the seventh game to deuce, but his Russian counterpart held for 2-5 to force the world number 26 to serve out the match.
The Brit was in trouble after going 30-0 down, but he won the next four points to confirm his place in the last eight of the tournament as he searches for just his second title on the ATP Tour.
Cameron Norrie will aim to join his compatriot in the quarter-finals when he tackles the USA's Marcos Giron in his second-round match on Thursday.
Ben Knapton
