Johanna Konta succeeded where other seeds in her half of the draw failed as she reached the quarter-finals of the Apia International in Sydney with victory over Daria Gavrilova.

Konta came on court immediately after the world No1, Angelique Kerber had been beaten by the 19-year-old Daria Kasatkina, while Dominika Cibulkova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded No3 and No5 respectively, also crashed out earlier on Tuesday.

That left Konta as the only seed in the top half of the draw and it was not an opportunity the Briton wasted as she battled to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over the Russian-born AustralianGavrilova in 81 minutes.

The 25-year-old did not look back after breaking in the opening game and dropped only four points on serve in a first set she dominated.

Konta quickly established herself in the second set and while the plucky Gavrilova staved off four match points on serve in the eighth game, the British No1 saved a break point and then sealed the win at the sixth attempt.

“I knew going into the match it was going to be an incredibly tough one, she’s one of the best fighters on tour,” said Konta .

The No6 seed continues her preparations for next week’s Australian Open with a last-eight clash against Kerber’s conqueror Kasatkina, the Russian ranked 16 places below Konta at 26 in the world.

“It’s such a strong tournament, such depth, I know going into every single match that it’s going to be a tough one and I’m just going to have to, first and foremost, take care of things my end,” Konta added.

Kerber was well below the form that saw her triumph in Melbourne 12 months ago and then at the US Open later in 2016, losing serve five times as she suffered a shock 7-6, 6-2 defeat to Kasatkina.

With the year’s first major less than a week away, Kerber will be under pressure having won only once in three matches this year, with her latest defeat following on from a surprise quarter-final exit in the Brisbane International last week.

Slovakia’s Cibulkova went down 6-4, 6-3 to the Canadian wildcard Eugenie Bouchard, while Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova saw off fellow Russian and fifth seed Kuznetsova 7-5, 6-3.

The No9 seed, Roberta Vinci, was brushed aside by Barbora Strycova, who claimed a 6-2, 6-3 victory, but there was better luck for Caroline Wozniacki, the 10th seed, who defeated Yulia Putintseva 6-0, 7-5.