#AnastasiaPavlyuchenkova’s surprising run at the 2019 #AustralianOpen continues, after a terrific victory over an in-form and looming #AliaksandraSasnovich in the third round. The Russian was looking in top form, excelling in the Melbourne Arena after some lights-out tennis saw her blasting past the Belarusian with a straightforward 6-0, 6-3 scoreline after exactly one hour of play.
Pavlyuchenkova, being aggressive throughout the match, fired 15 winners and impressively committed just eight unforced errors in 60 minutes of action. Whereas, Sasnovich was out of rhythm today, and failed to find the margins as 18 winners came alongside 25 costly unforced errors which saw her lose the important points today. The unseeded Russian, who reached the quarterfinal here in Melbourne back in 2017, remained unbroken throughout the match but managed to break serve on four different occasions.
Pavlyuchenkova will next face fifth seed Sloane Stephens in the fourth round, fighting the American for a place in the quarterfinals. This is the Russian’s first second-week appearance at a Major since the 2017 Australian Open, hence she will be looking to replicate her run and cause the upset against the higher-ranked American who is a former semifinalist back in 2013.
Pavlyuchenkova dishes out the bagel
Sasnovich made a poor start as she threw away all her opportunities during the rallies, committing consecutive forehand errors which gifted Pavlyuchenkova with the comfortable service hold to start the match with. The slow start continued to bother Sasnovich, who did not seem to have any rhythm in her game as she was just handing out free points with her errors.
Pavlyuchenkova threw in a double-fault to go down 0-30 in the third game but impressively rebounded to consolidate the break for a commanding three-game advantage within a blink of an eye. Pavlyuchenkova, returning with aggression and staying ahead in the rallies, was able to exploit Sasnovich’s vulnerable serves and broke through for a huge double-break lead.
The 2017 quarterfinalist survived yet another tricky service game, and the series of double faults just kept coming from Sasnovich as they proved to be costly, allowing Pavlyuchenkova to take the one-sided first set 6-0 after just 25 minutes of play.
Pavlyuchenkova seals the win
Carrying her momentum into the second set, Pavlyuchenkova surged towards a love service hold in the opening game of the set. Sasnovich started to rebound from that extremely disappointing first set, fending off a break point with an ace en route to grabbing the confidence-boosting service hold with three straight winners.
After a series of holds, it was once again Pavlyuchenkova who made the first breakthrough in the second set. A well-deserved break came right after Sasnovich failed to deal with the power at the baseline, often being forced to be on the defence or misfiring shots which she was expected to make.
Leading by a set and a break, it could have been some slight complacency which caused Pavlyuchenkova to concede her first break point of the match. Sasnovich would rue her missed chances as she committed a backhand unforced error on that crucial point — what would have happened if Sasnovich converted that break point? That paved the way for Pavlyuchenkova to consolidate the break by a whisker, and edge closer than ever to the win.
A consolation game soon followed for the in-form Belarusian, as she was unable to find a loophole on the return as Pavlyuchenkova confidently served out the match to love, sealing the impressive win after an hour of play.
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