16-year-old Xinran Sun follows in footsteps of Coco Gauff after saving match point in tense contest at Guangzhou Open

Xinran Sun continues to impress in this year's Asian swing. Continuing to perform at the highest level in front of a home audience, the 16-year-old has reached the quarter-final of the Guangzhou Open after seeing off the seventh seed Maria Timofeeva 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3). It was a tremendous comeback after being down 5-2 in the third set, saving a match point in the process. It was then capped off with a frosty handshake that caught the attention of some tennis fans.

The World No.405 is a talent for the future. The hype is already building up around her, with Sun part of the next wave of exciting tennis prospects on the WTA Tour. She is one of the younger ones in this coveted group but is already making a huge impact.

She has become the youngest player to reach the quarter-final in a WTA Tour event since Coco Gauff achieved it back in 2019 in Linz. Coincidentally, Sun's last defeat was against the two-time Grand Slam champion in a controversial episode at the China Open. That was in the third round of a WTA 1000 competition following wins against Eva Lys and Cristina Bucsa – the first through retirement.

She has been riding the crest of a wave ever since winning the junior US Open title, taking down Anna Pushkareva 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 in the final. After her showing in Beijing, she became the champion of the World Tennis Tour Junior Finals in Chengdu. That scintillating form has continued onto the WTA Tour with this run in Guangzhou a sign that she may be the real deal.

Sun already pulled off a huge upset to reach the last-16, dumping out the World No.80 Mananchaya Sawangkaew in straight sets. She now had the World No.72 to deal with but would be up for the challenge from the off. Taking a 3-0 lead, that break advantage was enough for her to see out the first set and put her Uzbekistan opponent under all sorts of pressure.

She then took a 3-1 lead in the second set, but her opponent came firing back. She got the match back on serve at 3-3 before Sun seized back the upper hand. That was short-lived, with Timofeeva ticking off three consecutive games to force a decider.

There were possible signs that Sun was slowing down. She succumbed to a 5-2 deficit and was even struggling on court with her emotions clear. However, she focused on the task at hand and saved a match point en route to breaking back. Three routine holds later, a tiebreak was called upon.

It was complete domination from the Chinese woman. She sailed out clear, winning it 7-3 and blasting into the quarter-finals.

The pair met at the net, but it was very brief. Timofeeva, furious after blowing that hefty advantage, shook her opponent's hand without even looking at her, instantly storming off towards the umpire's chair as she rushed to get out of there. Sun was the opposite, lapping up the support and applause as the situation sunk in.

Claire Liu is her next opponent after getting a walkover against the Osaka champion Katerina Siniakova. The atteniton is certainly on the 16-year-old, but for now it seems that she is shrugging it off with some fine performances.