LAURA Massaro battled into the last eight of the Tournament of Champions after coming from behind to beat compatriot Victoria Lust.

East Lancashire's World No.4 now faces Egypt's fifth seed Nouran Gohar for a place in the last four in New York.

Massaro won 6-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 11-3 against Lust and the Hoghton ace admitted the clash had been a battle.

She said: "I’ve had two opponents who have played really well on the day and are also making movements up the rankings as well.

"I haven’t been at my best for these first two matches, maybe I’m just getting my way into the tournament. Like the first round, today I just kept on fighting and kept on trying to find a way.

"It’s really amazing to play on this court, so I can’t complain about spending quite a lot of time on it so far. I’m still in the tournament and I get another chance to go again."

It was Massaro's second straight 3-2 victory after defeating Fiona Moverley in round one.

Against Lust, the 31-year-old struggled to play her best squash and was put under the cosh by her opponent, who played some sublime squash in the first and third games to take a 2-1 lead against an opponent she had lost to in all four of their previous meetings.

However, Massaro's grit and mental resilience came through as she weathered the storm in the final two games to complete the fightback in 52 minutes.