Rome, Italy, 14 May 2015 | tennis.com.au

Daria Gavrilova has come through an epic three-hour encounter to upset Ana Ivanovic at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

Gavrilova, a qualifier, ousted the seventh seed 5-7 7-6(2) 7-6(7), requiring eight match points before sealing a famous victory.

Forzaaaaaaa

— Daria Gavrilova (@Daria_gav) May 13, 2015

Having now won four matches on the trot, Gavrilova will tackle in-form Swiss Timea Bacsinszky in the last 16.

Bacsinszky beat 11th seed Karolina Pliskova and former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki en route to the third round.

Gavrilova, facing Ivanovic on a packed Pietrangeli court, held three match points on Ivanovic’s serve in the 12th game of the final set, only for the Serb to swing for the fences and save them all with forcing play.

In the ensuing tiebreak, Gavrilova lead 6-3, only for Ivanovic to erase three more match points.

Yet the soon-to-be Aussie held her nerve, clinching victory when Ivanovic dumped a return into net.

It was the second top 10 scalp for the 21-year-old this year, after she beat No.2 seed Maria Sharapova in the second round at the Miami Open in March.