Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won a marathon against Elena Rybakina 6-7(2) 6-2 9-7 in the 2021 French Open quarterfinals to progress into a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time in seven tries.
The 31st-seeded Pavlyuchenkova recovered from 4-1 down to level the first set, but Rybakina raced away in the tiebreak.
From 2-2 in the second set, Pavlyuchenkova won six games in a row to force a deciding set and open it with a 2-0 lead. Seed No.21 Rybakina responded by winning three games in a row, two of which were on Pavlyuchenkova’s serve, but the Russian broke right back. A long series of holds followed before Pavlyuchenkova took a crucial break in the 16th game when Rybakina double-faulted on match point.
The encounter lasted two hours and 33 minutes.
Playing her 50th main-draw at a major, Pavlyuchenkova will next face fellow first-time Grand Slam semifinalist Tamara Zidansek, who overcame Paula Badosa in a quarterfinal thriller earlier on Tuesday. (photo: Jimmie48)
Congrats Anastasia, hopefully those success in junior years finally paid off.
If anybody deserved a title of new slam champion, it is her.
I hope she minimize her errors and improved her speed around the court, because she always been rough around those area!