Miami, FL, USA, 27 March 2015 | tennis.com.au

Russian-born Australian Daria Gavrilova has caused the biggest boilover yet at the Miami Open, shocking Maria Sharapova in straight sets to advance to the third round.

Gavrilova, a wildcard, stunned the No.2 seed 7-6(4) 6-3 to score the biggest win of her fledgling career.

The former world No.1 junior will next face Japan’s Kurumi Nara, who upset 25th seed Caroline Garcia.

“I still can’t realise that it’s my dream. I have been dreaming about beating Maria since I was probably 12 when I saw her win Wimbledon, when she beat Serena,” she said.

“I was like, ‘oh, I really want to play her and beat her’. I was probably visualising beating her since I was 12.”

The Melbourne-based Gavrilova pushed Sharapova all the way in a tense first set on Stadium court, and eventually snared the first set against her shaky opponent, who finished the match with five double faults.

Gavrilova raced to a 4-1 lead in the second set, and although nerves began to understandably affect her – she dropped serve and saw the world No.2 close the gap to 3-4 – she settled, breaking again to lead 5-3 and serving out the match in the following game.

“I was just thinking, ‘OK, be tough, be tough; you can do it’,” she reflected.

“I had some negative thoughts at that time, but I kind of got rid of them and just kept going.”