Gavrilova: I knew I could beat Kvitova Australian Open

Gavrilova produced one of the shocks of the Australian Open as she eliminated two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova 6-4 6-4 in the second round on Wednesday.

Kvitova looked out of sorts on Margaret Court Arena, following an interrupted preparation due to a stomach illness that forced her to withdraw from the Shenzhen Open and Sydney International, and Gavrilova took advantage.

The 21-year-old has now beaten Kvitova, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and Lucie Safarova in the space of 12 months and while she stopped short of labelling Wednesday's victory the best of her career, the Russian-born favourite was understandably pleased.

"I was very happy in the end of the match," Gavrilova said post-match. "Coming into this match I was pretty confident that I could beat Petra. I knew that she didn't have enough matches before.

"She didn't even play anything before Oz Open. So I thought it was a good chance tonight.

"But I'm just really excited and I'm already looking forward to my next match on Friday."

Gavrilova, who will meet French 28th seed Kristina Mladenovic in the third round, had only managed two wins in seven previous grand slam appearances prior to this year's campaign at Melbourne Park.

"I'm just more experienced. I'm not as overwhelmed anymore," Gavrilova added when asked if she had changed mentally or physically to improve her performances at major tournaments.

"I was a lot calmer coming into this match. I didn't feel like the day was long."