BRISBANE, Australia - Newly-engaged Daria Gavrilova says her fiancé Luke Saville's beach-side proposal during the pre-season took her by surprise, but the free-spirited 24-year-old certainly did her part to lay the groundwork. 

"Yeah, I was pretty surprised," Gavrilova told reporters at the Brisbane International. "But I was, like, on him [about it]. I was like, come on."

"But every girl does it. I honestly think if girls had to propose, it would be so early. It's like two months in, let's get married. So I'm happy that it's the other way around."

Gavrilova and Saville, a two-time junior Slam champion, have been dating since their junior days. Gavrilova said Saville had to work overtime to keep his proposal plans a secret. 

"He proposed on the beach, and he was like you would have been sussed about anything else, because if I was dressed up -- we never dress up. If we were dressed up, you would be waiting there in the restaurant or something.

"So it was on the beach, and it was meant to be a beach recovery. So we came from tennis. He was pissed off with me because I was - I shouldn't say that - but I was doing Christmas shopping for decorations, and I took forever. He already had the reservation. He was confident that I was going to say yes. 

"So we get to the beach and he was like can't find a [place to] park. I'm like, come on. Hurry up. But he wanted to find a parking spot near the pier and propose there. That didn't happen. I was just like park here, this is fine, we'll walk. 

"So we went down to the beach. And there were so many people, it was like, oh, God. I'm taking my tights off because we're about to get in the water. And he's like, there's too many people. And I'm just like, what are you talking about? Like let's get it over with. I don't want to sit in the cold water for that long. 

"And then I see the box, and he's like, I've got a question to ask, and then he proposed. He didn't get down on his knee, but he asked. He was like, can I not get down on my knee? I was like, fine. Sure. Because I didn't want it to be a big thing. 

"So that's good. Because before that he was joking, I'm going to get a band and hidden cameras. I'm like, if you do that, I'll say no."

"I don't want to do any [wedding] planning. I just want a big party. That's all. I don't care what flowers I have. Just maybe I'll pick my dress. I'll make this effort. 

"Oh, my God! This story! I embarrassed him! Should have made something up."

Hear Gavrilova recall the whole story below: