Anders Antonsen is through to the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open after a three-set victory over Japan's Yushi Tanaka.
The Danish World No three won 21-13, 18-21, 22-20 on Thursday morning in a match where he was put under a lot of pressure by his Japanese opponent.
Tanaka got off to a really good start to the match, with the 29-year-old Dane struggling to get into gear. With six points in a row, the Japanese took a 7-2 lead, but the gap to Antonsen did not last long.
The Dane restored parity at 7-7, and for a short period, the match was relatively even before Antonsen found his rhythm and dominated the end of the first set, which he won 21-13.
In the second set, Antonsen got off to a flying start. Tanaka had difficulty keeping up with the pace of the Dane, who quickly took a 5-0 lead.
However, the Japanese responded strongly and fought his way back into the set, as he suddenly led 14-12. From here on, Tanaka controlled proceedings and forced the match into a third set.
The deciding set remained close between the two players, who shared the first 12 points, but then Antonsen got into a good run and took the lead 16-9.
However, Tanaka did not give up and launched a comeback.
At the end of the third set, Antonsen had four match points, but he did not manage to close the match right away. In the end, however, he kept his focus and won 22-20 after a close finish against a hard-fighting Tanaka.