Fifth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has powered through to the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International after fending off Serbian Bojana Jovanovski in straight sets.
The Russian made her intentions clear from the beginning, rushing ahead to a three-game lead before Jovanovski got her own, and then another. But Pavlyuchenkova continued her strong attack, taking out the first set 6-2.
The second set wasn’t so easy, with the pair inching game by game to 6-5 in Pavlyuchenkova’s favour before she claimed the match 6-2 7-5, having lost serve only once throughout the match.
“It feels great being in the quarters again this year,” Pavlyuchenkova said.
“I felt like I was playing good during the last matches here. Today I had a great win I think against Jovanovski.
“She is a great player and she is also upcoming player, she is also young and we have same age, so I’m glad I could get it through.
“Of course I was a bit nervous before the match, which is like normal thing you know before the start of the match. But after, everything was going well and I was playing well since the first point.
“I just felt like everything was easy for me. I had a great game. I felt quite confident – after it was clear for me what to do. So yeah I just enjoyed playing today.”
The 19 year old turned pro in December 2005, immediately going on to become the 2006 ITF World Junior Champion.
As a Junior, Pavlyuchenkova won three Grand Slam singles titles and four Grand Slam doubles titles, including a win against current World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki at the 2006 Australian Open.
Rising to play against the big guns, she continued her success as she made the transition to seniors, winning two WTA Tour singles titles in 2010 and five ITF singles titles between 2006 and 2008.
Currently ranked on the cusp of the top 20, at world No.21, Pavlyuchenkova’s next opponent will be world No.33 Lucie Safarova.
“She’s a really tough opponent, especially she is lefty and we played a few times,” Pavlyuchenkova said.
At their previous meetings Pavlyuchenkova came out on top – twice – on hard courts in 2008, but in 2010 she fell to the 23-year-old Czech, this time on grass.
“She’s got a good and nasty serve you know, so I dunno, it’s going to be tough match for sure so I’m going to get ready and just try and show my best.”
Describing her own playing style as “aggressive”, Pavlyuchenkova adds that she likes to “make a lot of winners”.
In pre-season preparations, she says she has worked on “everything”.
“Especially trying to improve my fitness, some mental things, but just basically I was working hard and trying to improve everything,” she said.
“You know as tennis is a tough sport, tough game – you need everything – movement, serve, good forehand, backhand and you can also try some different things like slides, drop shots. It’s also very mental game.”
Of her pre-season training in Barcelona, Pavlyuchenkova wrote on her website diary: “but of course, I couldn’t say ‘no’ to the shopping, especially on such a nice street as Passeig de Gracia”.
Starting fresh in 2011, Pavlyuchenkova says her goal is to go as far as possible in the Grand Slams and win as many tournaments as possible.
“I’ll do the best I can at every tournament and we’ll see,” she said.
Her best Grand Slam performance so far has been reaching the third round at 2008, 2010 Wimbledon; 2009, 2010 French Open and fourth round at 2010 US Open.
Her first chance to make that goal a reality will be the 2011 Australian Open in Melbourne – just a few short weeks away.
The popular Russian has two tournaments to fare before she gets there though: the Moorilla Hobart International and a starkly different tennis contest, this time virtual.
Pavlyuchenkova’s official website has been nominated for the 2010 Baseline Awards in the Best Player Website category – up against Wozniacki, Sharapova, Henin, Ivanovic, Williams, Zvonareva and Jankovic. The winner is announced tomorrow (check out her website here: www.anastasiapavlyuchenkova.ru/en).
But right now, Pavlyuchenkova is completely focused on the real game as she prepares to battle it out on the court with Safarova for a coveted spot in the semi-finals.