Favourite Juan Martin del Potro avoided the fate of third seed Grigor Dimitrov to surge into the quarter-finals of the China Open and seal his spot at the ATP Finals on Wednesday.
The towering Argentine top seed, enjoying one of the best seasons of his injury-blighted career, dismissed Russia's stubborn Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
Victory means that Del Potro has qualified for the season-ending ATP Finals for the first time since 2013, joining Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in London in November.
It underlines the 30-year-old's return to the men's elite after years of wrist problems that threatened to destroy his career.
The world number four faces Filip Krajinovic of Serbia in the last eight on Beijing's outside hard courts.
Bulgaria's Dimitrov was on the end of a major shock in the Chinese capital, totting up nine double faults in a three-set defeat to Serbian qualifier Dusan Lajovic.
Lajovic meets Britain's fifth seed Kyle Edmund in the quarter-finals.
In the women's draw, number two seed Caroline Wozniacki rounded off a polished display with an ace in a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Petra Martic of Croatia.
The Dane faces Estonia's Anett Kontaveit in the last 16.
Seventh seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic set up a meeting against China's top player Wang Qiang.
Kyrgios advance in Tokyo
tokyo: Former champion Nick Kyrgios flickered into life for just long enough to dispatch wildcard Yoshihito Nishioka 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) in the first round of the Japan Open on Wednesday.
He faces eighth seed Richard Gasquet for a place in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Wimbledon finalist Kevin Anderson survived a scare against Kyrgios's fellow Australian Matthew Ebden, winning in three sets to avoid the same fate as top seed Marin Cilic who flopped at the first hurdle in Tokyo a day earlier.
Second seed Anderson came through a tough opener 4-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-2 as the South African goes in search of a fifth career title.
The world number nine, runner-up to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon this year, struggled against Ebden until recovering his mojo in the second-set tiebreak, surrendering just one point.
An early break in the decider broke the Australian's resistance and Anderson closed out the match with a thumping serve down the centre line. He plays American Frances Tiafoe in the last 16.
Earlier, Australia's Alex De Minaur beat France's former world number six Gilles Simon 6-7 (1/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.