Daria Gavrilova says she will draw inspiration from Lleyton Hewitt, as she looks to continue her winning run at the Australian Open.

The Russia-born Gavrilova caused an upset in the women’s draw on Wednesday night when she beat sixth seed Petra Kvitova 6-4 6-4 in 89 minutes on Margaret Court Arena to advance to the third round.

The 21-year-old, who switched allegiance to Australia in 2015, will meet Kristina Mladenovic in the last 32.

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Hewitt is making his farewell appearance at Melbourne Park and his career could end on Thursday night should he lose to eighth seed David Ferrer in the second round on Rod Laver Arena.

But the former world number one and two-time major champion found time this week to praise Gavrilova, highlighting her work ethic as one of her shining qualities.

Gavrilova, the last of the Australian contingent in the women’s singles draw, admits she will use Hewitt’s comments as motivation ahead of facing Mladenovic.

“Obviously it’s great to hear it from him because he’s a role model for so many people, especially me as well,” she said.

Gavrilova, ranked 39 in the world, enjoyed an encouraging build-up to the Australian Open, having played alongside Nick Kyrgios as Australia won the Hopman Cup in Perth earlier this month.

She says experiencing some losses at the mixed teams tournament proved beneficial, as it allowed her to work on weaknesses in her game.

“My preparation couldn’t be any better than what it was, Perth was an unreal experience,” Gavrilova said.

“Obviously having those four matches under my belt it couldn’t be better. And I’m pretty confident now. I already lost two matches. Like, it helps.”

Gavrilova, who defeated Lucie Hradecka in the opening round, had backed her chances to spring a boilover against Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion who has been ranked as high as number two in the world.

She also knew Kvitova was underdone, as the current world number seven had only played one WTA Tour match in the build-up to the season-opening major.

Gavrilova celebrates her victory. Photo: Getty

“Coming into this match I was pretty confident that I could beat Petra,” she said.

“I knew that she didn’t have enough matches before.”

Kvitova made 35 unforced errors and was broken five times by Gavrilova.

The Czech saved a match point when she broke serve to trail 4-5 in the second set but the Australian subsequently claimed victory with a break of her own in the following game.

Kvitova had been ill in the lead-up to the Australian Open, having withdrawn from Shenzhen and Sydney with a gastro-intestinal illness, but she did not offer excuses for her defeat.

“I think she [Gavrilova] played a really good game today and did what she needed to do,” Kvitova said.

Gavrilova ready to face off against Mladenovic

Progressing to the fourth round will not be an easy task for Gavrilova, with the 28th-seeded Mladenovic having made the US Open quarter-finals last year.

The pair played against each other in junior tournaments and Gavrilova is excited about facing the Frenchwoman on Friday.

“We played juniors a lot,” she said.

“I actually lost to her at the French Open, I don’t know, ages ago. I was 15. It was in the finals. We’ve know each other since we were about 12.

“We’re pretty friendly. We say hello to each other, practice together, got each other’s numbers. I think we know each other pretty well.”

Gavrilova is making her third appearance at the Australian Open, with a second-round showing in 2013 her previous best result.