West Australian young gun Talia Gibson has burst her way into the WTA top 100 after two huge victories at Indian Wells in California.

The 21-year-old accounted for 11th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in straight sets in the second round before slaying another seed in Denmark’s Clara Tauson to enter the third round of the prestigious American event, having had to come through qualifiers.

The herculean victories, including overcoming 28 aces from Tauson, have boosted Gibson to 85th in the live world rankings, joining fellow rising star Maya Joint as the second Australian woman to move inside the top 100 in the past 12 months.

Gibson said the results, which are her first career top-20 scalps, were affirmation that the work she had put into her game ahead of the new campaign was paying dividends.

“It’s been a goal of mine for so long (to enter the top 100), and I feel like I’ve been pretty close in the rankings for quite a while now. To be able to do it so early on in the year was so unexpected. It feels really amazing,” Gibson said.

“I’ve really been working hard to keep trying to improve the consistency around my level and implement a bit more variety. I’m really happy with how my game’s developing.”

The West Aussie will now face seventh seed Jasmine Paolini for a spot in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Gibson started the year in form, emphatically taking down world No.62 Anna Blinkova 6-1, 6-3 in the first round of her home Australian Open and made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the women’s doubles alongside fellow Australian Kimberly Birrell.

The young gun has also credited the depth of rising Australian talent for her form, saying the local competition has pushed her to improve.

“We have so many amazing players and young girls coming through,” she said.

“Everyone’s extremely supportive of each other. We’re able to all get confidence from each other’s successes. I think that plays a really big part in why everyone’s doing so well.”