Gavrilova gunning for Open fourth round

Daria Gavrilova has declared she's a better player than during last year's charge to the Australian Open fourth round.

But the 22-year-old Australian is refusing to get carried away with her title prospects despite reaching the third round with a hard-fought 6-2 1-6 6-4 win on Thursday night over Croatian teen Ana Konjuh.

She joins comeback queen Ashleigh Barty in the last 32.

Ranked No.23, Gavrilova next faces Swiss 12th seed Timea Bacsinszky, who she has beaten both times they have played.

With the 2016 Australian Open her best result at a grand slam, Gavrilova said she was trying not to get ahead of herself.

"I'm not thinking about the future. I'm just being in the moment right now," she said.

Asked whether she was playing better this time around, Gavrilova said: "I think I'm a better player, yeah."

The Hisense Arena encounter was a rollercoaster with Gavrilova breaking Konjuh in the first game of the final set and holding on to serve out the match.

Gavrilova said she was pleased with the way she kept her cool when momentum swung Konjuh's way mid-match.

The feisty baseliner famously unravelled in a fourth-round capitulation last year from 6-0 2-0 up against Spanish top-tenner Carla Suarez Navarro.

She felt her physical game, as well as mental strength, was tracking well.

"I'm happy with the way I'm playing right now," Gavrilova said.

"There's nothing much to improve - just a few tactical things against players that I'm playing."