Rome, Italy, 15 May 2015 | tennis.com.au

Daria Gavrilova’s run of brilliant form has continued in Rome, with the world No.78 advancing to the quarterfinals at the combined ATP-WTA event.

Gavrilova overcame the in-form Swiss Timea Bacsinszky 6-4 7-6(0) in a lengthy two hours and 22 minutes.

In a stroke of luck, she will not top seed Serena Williams as expected, but instead fellow qualifier Christina McHale, who moved through to the last eight after Williams withdrew from the tournament citing an elbow injury.

Earlier in the event, world No.65 McHale upset 13th seed Sara Errani in straight sets.

This will be the first meeting between Gavrilova and McHale; the winner will go through to a semifinal showdown against either Maria Sharapova or Victoria Azarenka.