Melbourne VIC, Australia, 9 December 2015 | tennis.com.au

Daria Gavrilova’s breakout 2015 season has been capped by winning the WTA’s Newcomer of the Year Award.

The Russian-born Aussie – who gained Australian citizenship in late November – won the award recognising a player who made their top 100 debut or achieved notable accomplishments during 2015 and who had not previously played in more than six main draw events at tour-level in a single season.

https://twitter.com/Daria_gav/status/674314120787681281

Fans voted on the award in a poll on the WTA’s official website, wtatennis.com.

Gavrilova didn’t just make her top 100 debut – she smashed her way inside the world’s top 40, peaking at No.35 on 5 October and ending the season at 36th.

It represented a surge of almost 200 places in 12 months; Gavrilova was ranked No.233 at the end of 2014.

She scored three top 10 wins throughout the year – over No.2 Maria Sharapova in Miami, No.7 Ana Ivanovic in Rome and No.7 Lucie Safarova in Toronto – and completed the year with a 44-23 win-loss record.

Her performance in Rome was her strongest of the season; after beating Ivanovic she went all the way to the semifinals at what is one of the most prestigious tournaments on the tennis calendar.