Mirjana Lucic-Baroni claimed the scalp of third seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday.

Lucic-Baroni had never reached the third round in Melbourne, but achieved that feat at the age of 34 courtesy of a 6-3 6-2 victory.

Radwanska was unable to live with the veteran Croatian's positive approach and suffered her earliest exit in Melbourne for eight years.

The world number three won just 53 per cent of points on her first serve and was broken six times to bow out of a tournament in which she was a semi-finalist last year and in 2014.

Lucic-Baroni, ranked 79th in the world, said: "It’s an incredible feeling.

"I knew until the last point that I had to fight – there is a reason why she is number three in the world.

"I know I have a big, strong game and that I can hurt a lot of people. Whether I can do it seven days in a row is a question. But I know I have a big enough game to beat anybody.

"I knew what I had to do. It's just a matter of getting on court and doing it and I was able to execute perfectly. I'm super thrilled."