Daria Saville has progressed to her first WTA 500 quarterfinal since 2022, saving a match point on her way to a rousing victory over Tatjana Maria in the San Diego Open.

Entered as a qualifier, Saville looked headed for a second-round exit against the German world number 47.

With the score 5-7, 4-5 and trailing 30-40, Saville's sweeping forehand dropped into the back corner to save the match, before the Australian pulled off a remarkable 5-7, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 victory.

"It was a fun match only because I won in the end," said a laughing Saville after a clash that lasted 3 hours and 14 minutes.

"It was a tough battle."

It was Saville's fourth top-50 win of the season, with the 29-year-old projected to return to the top 120, up from his current ranking of 148.

Saville will face either third seed Emma Navarro or Kateřina Siniaková in the last eight.

Meanwhile, Alex de Minaur marched into the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 tournament in Acapulco.

The defending champion was not troubled by Austrian Sebastian Ofner in their second-round match, winning 6-1, 6-3.

"I've got a very big heart, I'll tell you that," said de Minaur, who is ranked at a career-best number nine in the world.

"This heart is going to keep me going, no matter what the score is, where I'm at, what stage of my career I am [in].

"It's what's gotten me to this point so far and it's what's going to hopefully get me further and further."

De Minaur will next play fifth-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who advanced with a 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) win over Italian Flavio Cobolli.

AAP