Daria Gavrilova can pinpoint the moment where she saved her Australian Open campaign.

The 22-year-old was preparing to play a deciding third set against Timea Bacsinszky on Saturday night but knew all too well that something was amiss.

After a blistering start in the first set, Gavrilova lost focus during the second, throwing her racquet in frustration as the Swiss 12th seed fought her way back into the match.

For Gavrilova, it quickly brought back memories of her capitulation to Carla Suarez Navarro in the fourth round of the Open last year, where she gave up a 6-0 2-0 lead.

“Well, I went to the bathroom. I think I was losing my cool a little bit in the second set,” Gavrilova said.

“I told myself, ‘just try and be composed. Don’t do what you did last year’. I told myself to be really focused and play a tough point every point.

“I said, ‘okay, just give it (your) all for the next 30 minutes’, or however long it had to take.”

The pep talk worked wonders, allowing Gavrilova to claim a 6-3 5-7 6-4 victory and equal her best showing at Melbourne Park while ensuring there would still be a local hope in the second week.

Standing in her way of improving that record is Czech fifth seed Karolina Pliskova, who Gavrilova had previously named the most likely to win the Open if she couldn’t do so herself.

Pliskova, who lost to Angelique Kerber in the final of last year’s US Open, came back from 5-2 down in the third set to claim a 4-6 6-0 10-8 victory over Latvian Jelena Ostapenko.

Describing her opponent’s recent form as unbelievable, Gavrilova said she was confident her supreme athleticism would continue to hold up after going to three sets in each of her matches.

“I do work a lot. It’s also natural, I think, the way I move on the court,” she said.

“In the preseason I do a lot of running, explosive stuff. I’m really happy that it’s paying off. I’m also confident that I can play for three hours if I have to.”