Twice champion and third seed Ivan Ljubicic scraped past Mardy Fish of the United States 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 in the Vienna Open second round on Wednesday.
Ljubicic had the upper hand throughout most of the first set but was unable to convert any of five break point opportunities.
After losing the tiebreak, the former world number three proved more efficient in the second set, breaking Fish twice without reply.
Ljubicic was back in trouble near the end of the deciding set when he found himself within two points of an early exit at 6-5 down but three unforced errors from the American let him off the hook.
"Fish played really well and I had a hard time dealing with him," said Ljubicic after taking the final tiebreak 7-4.
"The main thing is that I'm through to the next round."
The Croat, who had not dropped a set in either of his two previous Vienna triumphs, now faces a quarter-final meeting with Italian Andreas Seppi who had earlier accounted for Dutchman Robin Haase 7-5, 6-3.
Second seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez needed less than an hour to book his own place in the quarter-finals with a straightforward 6-3, 6-4 win over Jiri Vanek.
Gonzalez, who was beaten by Ljubicic in last year's Vienna final, kept himself on course for another showdown with the Croat after breaking his Czech opponent once in each set.
The hard-hitting world number six won all but nine of the points on his own serve and was never forced to defend a break point against the world number 105.
Gonzalez will now take on former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero for a place in the semi-finals.
Ferrero secured his own place in the last eight with a 7-6, 1-6, 6-2 win over Frenchman Julien Benneteau.
Top seed Novak Djokovic enjoyed a rest day on Wednesday but returns to action on Thursday for a second round encounter with Czech lucky loser Tomas Zib.
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