Talia Gibson’s fairytale run in Indian Wells isn’t over just yet, as the world No. 112 has caused the biggest upset of the tournament so far. Facing a top-10 player for the first time in her career, the Australian qualifier caused yet another upset in the desert as she stunned No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini 7-5 2-6 6-1, getting the job done with a return winner and putting her hands into the air, then towards her head in disbelief.

Gibson is now set to skyrocket up the rankings and inside the world’s top 70. Until now, her career-high ranking was No. 105 in the world, and she’d never even cracked the top 100. The 21-year-old has also guaranteed herself £144k ($193k) in prize money.

The world No. 112 is on a six-match winning streak after coming through qualifying. Until now, she’d never even won a main draw match at WTA 1000 level. But Gibson has been on a tear in Indian Wells, taking out top-20 opposition in Ekaterina Alexandrova and Talia Gibson to reach the last 16.

She went one better by getting her first top-10 win over Paolini on Tuesday, and then told the crowd: “Honestly, just completely speechless. This is becoming even more of a fairytale for me every single day. I want to say thank you so much to everyone who came out to watch. It was a great atmosphere, so thank you.”

This has been a tournament full of firsts for Gibson. Not only has she scored a maiden top-10 win – she hadn’t even beaten a top-50 opponent until now, and this is her first WTA 1000 main draw appearance. The qualifier received a rousing reception on Stadium 2 as her achievements were read out.

And when asked ‘why now?’, Gibson replied: “That’s a good question. I think I have a lot of confidence in how I play, and I think, especially after the Aussie summer, I was just able to learn so much, and everything is sort of clicking at the moment. I don’t really know how to describe it, I’m not really sure how to answer that, to be honest! I’m just as shocked but I’m over the moon.”

Gibson had plenty of confidence coming into Indian Wells after a great run of form on the ITF circuit, but the sudden jump in level has been impressive. The Australian ace won a W75 title in Brisbane at the beginning of January, then reached the semi-finals in another W75 event in Brisbane a week later. She also got to the quarters of the W100 in Bengaluru.

Now, the qualifier finds herself through to the last eight of a WTA 1000 event – the next tier down from the Grand Slams. The new ranking will guarantee Gibson the chance to enter Grand Slam tournaments and bigger 1000 events directly. She’ll also be able to play qualifying for WTA Tour events with smaller draws.

Gibson will face either Alexandra Eala or Linda Noskova as she looks to keep the fairytale alive in Indian Wells. No matter what, it’s been a tournament to remember for the Aussie, and she’ll be reaping the rewards in ranking points and prize money.