The Ukrainian, who scored her biggest career win by clinching the WTA Finals in Singapore last October, dismantled Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-1 in 67 minutes.

“I was trying to be light on my feet and be really quick and I think this was the key today,” she said.

The 24-year-old has set her sights high this year, targeting a Grand Slam win and world number one ranking.

She said the WTA victory had demonstrated she could mix it with the game’s best players.

“It definitely brought me lots of confidence and showed I can play at a really high level,” she said. “So I’m just trying to transfer this to the Grand Slam.”

Svitolina was a quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park last year, but a Grand Slam breakthrough has so far proved elusive.

She will meet either Czech Kristyna Pliskova – identical twin sister of seventh seed Karolina Pliskova – or Zhang Shuai of China in the next round.

She is in the same side of the draw as US Open winner Naomi Osaka, and could meet her in the quarter-finals.