STRASBOURG, France – Kristina Mladenovic withstood a spirited comeback from Alison Riske to take her place in the quarterfinals of the Internationaux de Strasbourg.

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Leading 5-1 in the final set, Mladenovic appeared to be coasting towards victory. However, Riske had no intention of going quietly, saving four match points to draw level at 5-5.

As the tension ratcheted up inside the stadium, the Frenchwoman drew courage from a vocal crowd, stopping the rot to reach the sanctuary of a tie-break. In a dramatic finale, Riske fended off a further two match points, before Mladenovic belatedly closed out a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) victory with an ace out wide.

“Physically it was tough out there today. Long, tight rallies. A lot of mistakes from me,” Mladenovic said. “The crowd were the difference. There was suspense – at 5-1 I think we thought it was done but she fought back to get the tie-break.

“She saved a lot of match points but I’m just happy I could get the win today. I took the tie-break point by point, calmed things down. That was the key.”

Mladenovic, the No.4 seed, is hoping for an easier outing when she takes on occasional doubles rival Alla Kudryavtseva on Thursday.

“She plays doubles like me a lot which should be interesting. It will be a tough match but hopefully without the drama of today,” Mladenovic added.

Joining Mladenovic in the last eight will be wildcard Pauline Parmentier, after she held her nerve to knock out No.2 seed Sloane Stephens, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, in the day’s final match.

Advancing in more straightforward fashion was No.7 seed Elena Vesnina, who won 6-4, 7-5 against Kateryna Bondarenko. No.8 seed Timea Babos, meanwhile, slipped to a 6-1, 6-4 defeat against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.