Yuan saves three match points to beat Gracheva and reach last 8

Chinese Yue Yuan, the No 4 seed, saved three match points as she edged out Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6) to reach the quarter-finals of the Rouen Open.

Yuan, ranked No 38, will face American Sloane Stephens, the No 6 seed, next.

The Chinese won against Egyptian Mayar Sherif (6-3, 7-6 (7)) ahead of her victory.

In the previous round of the Rouen tournament, Gracheva, ranked No 94, edged out Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova (6-2, 3-6, 7-5).

Rouen WTA 250, other last 16 results (Kindarena, clay, EUR 232.244, most recent results first):

• Anhelina Kalinina vs. Martina Trevisan
• Anna Karolina Schmiedlova vs. Caroline Garcia
• Clara Burel vs. Elena-Gabriela Ruse
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Arantxa Rus: thursday
• Sloane Stephens beat Karolina Pliskova: 6-3, 6-2
• Mirra Andreeva (5) beat Elina Avanesyan: 7-5, 6-4
• Magda Linette beat Natalija Stevanovic (Q): 6-2, 6-1