46 actively won goals and eight innings taken: Medvedev and Pavlyuchenkova made it to the Roland Garros quarterfinals

Strong-willed victory for Pavlyuchenkova

Only two tennis players from Russia reached the 1/8 finals of Roland Garros in singles: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Daniil Medvedev.

And if the rest of the men did not even reach the third round, then the women could perform much better.

At the previous stage, the rackets were covered by Elena Vesnina, Varvara Gracheva and Daria Kasatkina.

Thus, the experienced Pavlyuchenkova in the future had to defend the honor of the country alone.

Fortunately, in France, she gained an excellent move and alternately knocked Christina McHale, Ayla Tomlyanovich and Arina Sobolenko out of the fight.

The victory over the fourth racket of the planet turned out to be especially valuable.

Moreover, the domestic athlete took the decisive set from a much younger athlete to zero.

In the next match, Pavlyuchenkova was to meet with another formidable representative of Belarus Victoria Azarenka.

Judging by the statistics, this confrontation did not bode well for Anastasia.

Of the six previous meetings, the 16th racket of the planet won five (another match did not take place).

The Russian woman managed to gain the upper hand only in 2015 in Cincinnati, but then a colleague was forced to withdraw due to health problems.

In Paris, the Russian woman from the first minutes showed her willingness to finally stop an uncomfortable opponent.

In general, both girls showed a high level of tennis and at first acted practically without mistakes.

Azarenka made only 30 unforced mistakes for the whole match, and Pavlyuchenkova - 27. Also, the Belarusian made five double mistakes against four of her opponent.

The athletes started right off the bat and immediately exchanged breaks, and the Russian woman managed to take the game from the Belarusian to zero.

In the fourth, the native of Samara repeated her achievement and went into the lead - 3: 1.

Unfortunately, Azarenka immediately made a return break and bounced back.

As a result, the fate of the party was decided by the mistakes of the domestic athlete in the ending.

First, she allowed her opponent to make a break, and then did not convert two breakpoints on someone else's serve - 5: 7.

In the second set on the court for the time being there was also an equal fight with an exchange of breaks.

But this time, at the decisive moment, the 16th racket of the planet trembled.

With the score 3: 4, not in her favor, she gave the Russian woman her own serve, making a number of mistakes, and then allowed her to calmly bring the matter to victory - 3: 6.

And for the final game, it looks like Pavlyuchenkova just has more strength left than her more experienced opponent, which is good news.

She moved more actively and each time turned out to be a little faster than the Belarusian.

This was enough to gain key points.

For example, in the fourth game with the score 1: 2, Anastasia won back a break point, and in the sixth she made a break, losing 40:15.

As a result - a confident victory of the Russian woman with a score of 6: 2.

This success allowed her to reach the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam tournament for the seventh time in her career and at Roland Garros for the second time.

Moreover, the previous similar achievement in France dates back to the distant 2011.

Also, Anastasia, according to the results of the competition, will definitely overtake Veronica Kudermetova and become the first racket of the country.

“Hopefully I'm showing more maturity, smarter and more consistent play.

It seems to me that I am in quite good shape, considering that, as I said, I am not the youngest in the tournament right now.

But the state of health is still good.

And I get much more pleasure than before.

I understand, I know what I have to do, I know what I want - and I try to work for it, ”Wtatennis quoted Pavlyuchenkova as saying.

And in the next match, she will have to meet with another tennis player from the post-Soviet space, Elena Rybakina.

The representative of Kazakhstan on Sunday sensationally outplayed Serena Williams herself in two sets - 6: 3, 7: 5. 

Confident advantage of Medvedev

But the successful performance at Roland Garros by Daniil Medvedev, perhaps, became an even greater sensation.

The second racket of the planet always felt not very confident on the ground and even admitted that he did not like this coating.

For a long time, a Russian in France could not go beyond the first round.

However, this time he surpassed himself and for the first time in his career made it to the 1/8 finals.

Moreover, the domestic athlete gave only one set to the rather strong Alexander Bublik, Tommy Paul and Reilly Opelka.

His next opponent was an even stronger tennis player - the 22nd seeded Kristjan Garin.

Prior to that, Medvedev had met with the Chilean only twice.

On hard in Montreal in 2019, he confidently prevailed, but on unloved soil in Madrid he lost just a month ago - 4: 6, 7: 6, 1: 6.

These statistics did not seem to bode well for Daniel.

Fortunately, on Sunday, the fans saw a completely different Russian.

The main thing is that he finally gained self-confidence and did not allow unnecessary nerves.

A strong performance at the current Roland Garros helped the native of Moscow to play from a position of strength, in general he did not leave the opponent the slightest chance - 6: 2, 6: 1, 7: 5 - and spent a little over two hours on the game.

However, the beginning of the game was not so easy for him.

In the very first game on his serve, the Russian took the upper hand with great difficulty, having won back a break point.

But already in the fourth, Daniel made his debut break, and in the seventh - another one.

Medvedev moved much better than his opponent, served excellently and acted well on reception.

Eloquent statistics: for the whole match, the second racket of the world completed 14 aces, while the opponent - none.

In the second set, the Russian's advantage became even more overwhelming.

Garin did almost nothing, while the favorite literally flew around the court.

He looked better, in particular, in protracted rallies, demonstrating excellent physical readiness.

The Chilean managed to take only one game - 1: 6.

However, in the final game, Medvedev unexpectedly had to work hard.

The rival began to correct the mistakes made earlier.

Kristjan won three games in a row, including making his first break in the confrontation.

Daniel also needed the help of a doctor.

The athlete has problems with his arm.

Fortunately, he did not have to refuse to continue the struggle.

Moreover, the forced pause was good for the Russian, and he managed to make a comeback.

The score was equal.

Further, the tennis players calmly kept their serve and, it seemed, it would come to a tie-break.

But at the decisive moment, Garin wavered again.

In the 11th game, with an equal result of 5: 5, the Chilean allowed Medvedev to make a fateful break.

Then it was not difficult for him to confidently apply for the match and bring the matter to victory.

Thus, for the first time in his career, the Russian made it to the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam tournament not on hard, but at the same time won the love of French fans.

During the match with Garin, the audience supported the domestic athlete during the rallies, and the native of Moscow expressed the hope that she would continue to be on his side in the future.

At the same time, the next rival of Daniel will be the fifth racket of the world Stefanos Tsitsipas, who in three sets was stronger than Pablo Carreno-Busta - 6: 3, 6: 2, 7: 5.