Mikhail Youzhny battled before seeing off Alexander Dolgopolov 6-1 5-7 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Open.
Youzhny converted both his break-point chances as he strolled through the opening set, but Dolgopolov battled back bravely to edge the second, although he only converted two of 10 chances to break.
But Youzhny held his nerve and claimed the crucial break in the 12th game of the decider to advance.
Youzhny will next face Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis after he claimed a 7-5 7-5 win over Colombia's Santiago Giraldo.
Qualifier Milos Raonic reached the last eight of an ATP event for the first time as he defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-7 (8/10) 7-6 (11/9) 6-3 while Igor Andreev dumped out second seed Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (7/5) 5-7 6-3.
In first-round action fifth seed David Ferrer beat Australia's Bernard Tomic 6-3 6-4 while Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin recovered from losing the first set to see off Marsel Ilhan 2-6 6-3 6-4.
The day's other game saw Edouard Roger-Vasselin ease past Frantisek Cermak 6-0 6-4.
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