Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeats Victoria Azarenka in three sets

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova clenches her first during her round of 16 battle against Victoria Azarenka at the French Open.

Victoria Azarenka racked up too many errors to fall out of the French Open Sunday. It was that vulnerability that allowed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to dictate her way to victory in three sets 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 on Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros. Her hard work ended a ten-year drought for the Russian as she returned to the quarterfinals.

This was the seventh meeting between the two tennis veterans and the first to occur a grand slam. The Belorussian had an easy finish against Madison Keys, who couldn’t keep up with the power forehand. The Russian scored a big victory against Aryna Sabalenka, who hits hard like Azarenka but makes critical mistakes that allowed Pavlyuchenkova to edge her. The former world number one has both wins on the clay courts against the Russian, hoping that she gains another to reach the round of 16. The 29-year-old hasn’t been beyond the third round in a decade leaving her a chance to pull off an upset against the 15^th seed. 

Things didn’t start well for the Russian, who double-faulted twice on serve, handing the break to Azarenka. The 31-year-old thought she would consolidate but instead got into a jam on serve, leading Pavlyuchenkova to break her opponent to love. She achieved the service hold to consolidate the break for a 2-1 jump as her serve was performing well. The Russian added a third straight win before the 15^th seed responded with a break back in the fifth. 

A serve to love was the order of the day for Azarenka, who leveled the score at three-all improving her movement in the court and ball placement. The two stayed tight with each closing out their service games but the Russian holding Azarenka back at the business end of the first. The 31^st seed reached 5-4 with a chance to play for the set but was forced to play on as Azarenka leveled back. 

The 11^th game became the heaviest fight for control where they went two breaks on deuce. A huge mistake from Pavlyuchenkova led to her being broken and Azarenka up 6-5. It was a tough task for the Belorussian, who had to fight an aggressive return game from Pavlyuchenkova. They went to deuce where it took three breaks for the 15^th seed to find her moment to land the victory in 54 minutes. Unforced errors were too much from Pavlyuchenkova, who had 16 to Azarenka’s six. Winners from both were high and close proving how minimal the win for the Belorussian was. 

The Russian opened the second with a firm service hold, allowing the 31-year-old a point. She produced another win breaking Azarenka; whose game was passive leading to her two-game hole. Pavlyuchenkova almost had three, but a pair of mistakes helped the Belorussian get control and break back in the third. A break for the Russian benefitted her lead on the score, taking a two-game jump. 

A fourth service game was broken with Azarenka earning it against Pavlyuchenkova. With one game out of the way, Azarenka fought well on serve in the sixth to sit at three-all with the Russian. Despite her attempts to break for the lead, Pavlyuchenkova was in a comfort zone with her offense that scored her a service hold in the seventh. Azarenka suffered two double faults in the eighth that opened the door for the 29-year-old, who gained a chance to serve for the set. She opened to 40-0 on the Belorussian, who fought back two points but suffered an error that closed out the second in 38 minutes. 

With a decider in play and Pavlyuchenkova carrying the momentum, it was up to the 31^st seed to continue her fight to make her way into the last eight. She added her fourth consecutive game to open the third with a break in hand. Azarenka broke back immediately, putting together a great shot selection with the help of her moving for every ball. She backed up the break with a hold in the third, but it was still a long way to go with Pavlyuchenkova. 

The Russian made some errors on serve in the fourth but fought to recover lost ground, force deuce, and hold on to the first break. A chance for her to take the lead came when Azarenka committed her fourth double fault but saved herself with an ace. It didn’t help her recover in the fifth as she hit a ball into the net giving Pavlyuchenkova the lead. The 31^st seed notched her fourth double fault, but the Belorussian's errors helped her get to deuce. It was there that she pressured the 15^th seed to hold and double her margin. 

Winners became crucial for the 29-year-old, who kept the edge on Azarenka and came through with a huge break to sit up 5-2. With the door open to serve for the match, the Russian was on a roll winning eight of the last ten points watching as her opponent erred point after point. Pavlyuchenkova was soon at match point with a line drive net-front winner. She earned the win on a hit into the net from Azarenka ended a hard-earned win that took two hours and nine minutes to accomplish.