"Petra is a really tough opponent. It was a little bit tricky ... but I felt like I took my chances and I served really well today," said Gavrilova, who landed 81 percent of her first serves.
Krunic staged a remarkable rally in Beijing, after trailing by a set and a break, to beat Svitolina 0-6 6-4 7-6(4) for her first victory over the Ukrainian on her third attempt.
Krunic lost the first nine games of the match and trailed by a break three times in the final set, clawing herself back to level terms on each occasion before winning a dramatic tiebreak.
Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko was given a tough examination by Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova but held her nerve, claiming six points in a row in another tense tiebreak to win 6-4 7-6(3) and will next face Chinese wild card Wang Qiang.
Briton Johanna Konta was beaten by 10th seed Julia Goerges, of Germany, 6-2 4-6 6-3.
Goerges sent down 12 aces and struck 42 winners, while making 29 unforced errors as she sealed victory in two hours and 15 minutes.
(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru,; Editing by Neville Dalton)
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