Debut semi-final by Pavlyuchenkova
The current French Open has once again shown how unpredictable results can be in women's tennis and how often leaders change in it. In the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, not a single athlete from those who achieved this at the previous Grand Slam tournament made it. This situation was repeated for the fifth time in a row. At the same time, of those who nevertheless ended up in the top eight in Paris, six at once never reached this stage in their careers.
Only two could boast of such experience - the current winner of Roland Garros Iga Svyontek from Poland and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The Russian tennis player made it to the Major's quarterfinals for the seventh time in the past ten years and has never taken the next step in the tournament bracket yet.
Another chance was given to her by a meeting with a former compatriot Elena Rybakina, now playing for Kazakhstan.
The girls never competed on the court, but in Paris they managed to study each other's capabilities well.
They teamed up to participate in the doubles tournament and also reached the quarterfinals in it.
For one day, they had to be on opposite sides of the net and determine which of them plays singles better.
Pavlyuchenkova had a chance in the very first game to lead the story on someone else's serve - Rybakina was so often mistaken that she gave the Russian woman two break points, but she did not use them.
When a Kazakh tennis player had such an opportunity, she immediately took the lead with a score of 4: 1.
Pavlyuchenkova after that played much better and was able to catch up with her opponent, as soon as she made two double mistakes in one game.
In the future, the rivals did not miss their serve, although Rybakina's number of unforced errors continued to grow.
In the 12th game, Pavlyuchenkova won four points with active rallies and was supposed to seize the initiative, but in the tie-break she was in for a failure.
Rybakina won five points in a row and did not miss such a solid advantage.
This state of affairs did not at all reflect the true balance of power, and Pavlyuchenkova began to prove this in the second game.
The serve in her performance became such a formidable weapon that Rybakina no longer had to hope for a break - in the first three games at the reception, she earned only four points.
As soon as the Kazakh athlete loosened her grip, Pavlyuchenkova went on the attack and won four games in a row.
Her realization of the first and second serve reached a fantastic 80%, and the number of unforced errors in two sets was only 13 against 29 for her opponent.
Such statistics gave the Russian woman a lot of hope before the final game.
But it turned out to be even more intense than the previous ones. The girls exchanged breaks twice, unsuccessfully trying to avoid a long set, after which they began to hold on to their serve. None of the rivals could even earn a break point. The most dangerous moment for Rybakina was Pavlyuchenkova's powerful cross with a score of 7: 6, after which the Russian woman had two points left to win, but instead, she eliminated her advantage by mistakes herself.
Rybakina wavered only in the 16th game. After her two outs along the length, Pavlyuchenkova successfully reached the net, after which her opponent immediately made a double mistake and was forced to admit defeat. The Russian tennis player will play in the semifinals of the Grand Slam tournament for the first time since Elena Vesnina reached this stage at Wimbledon in 2016. A native of Samara, at the same time, she guaranteed herself a return to the top 30 of the world ranking.
Pavlyuchenkova will challenge the ticket to the decisive match of Roland Garros with another opening of the tournament, Tamara Zidansek from Slovenia.
The 85th racket of the world has never reached even the third round of the majors before, but has now managed to be in the quartet of the strongest after defeating the Spanish Paula Badosa.
But first, Pavlyuchenkova will meet with Rybakina again and will try with her to beat the polka Magda Lynette and the American Bernard Peru in the doubles tournament.
End of Medvedev's dirt adventure
Daniil Medvedev could also please the fans on Tuesday.
He also made it to the Roland Garros quarterfinals, which in his case can be considered a great success - before that he had never won a single match in the tournament.
He had to challenge the next round with the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who nevertheless interrupted the Russian's winning streak.
Tsitsipasa could be called the first truly dangerous opponent for Medvedev. Firstly, the Greek tennis player is the fifth racket in the world and is even capable of claiming the third one at the end of the tournament. Secondly, unlike his opponent, Tsitsipas does not experience big problems on clay courts and has lost only one set at the current Roland Garros.
The Athens native really turned out to be an extremely difficult contender for the second number in the world ranking. In the first set, Tsitsipas was almost perfect on his serve, giving up only three points after the first kick-off and one after the second. Medvedev had no chance to claim his rights to the set, and two unforced errors in the fourth game did not allow him to even stretch the game. Tsitsipas won it 6: 3 in just 32 minutes. The Greek earned nine points at the exit to the grid, where Medvedev himself practically did not run out.
The second game began in the same bleak manner.
The Russian tennis player lost 12 out of 13 points and found himself on the edge of the abyss.
But he managed to get out of it quickly.
Medvedev sharply added and instantly made a reverse break, and after a long ninth game, in which he held his serve for a long time, he even earned a double set point.
True, the Russian wasted both attempts due to mistakes, after which Tsitsipas still equalized the score in games.
Soon the game moved to a tie-break, in which luck was on the side of the Greek.
In the third set, Medvedev continued to progress.
He no longer allowed Tsitsipas to feel confident in the serve, and it was only a matter of time when the Russian himself would be able to take the lead.
It happened in the fifth game, in which Medvedev showed himself great at the net.
He immediately confirmed his serve, but then again in the game of the second seed there was a failure.
He lost almost dry three games in a row, finally giving the initiative to Tsitsipas.
In the 12th game, Medvedev took the lead with a score of 40: 0, but the Greek won five points in a row and for the first time reached the semifinals of Roland Garros, where he will play with German Alexander Zverev.
Success with an eye to the Olympics
One final of Roland Garros will definitely not take place without the participation of Russian tennis players.
Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev reached the top of the tournament bracket in the mixed category.
They became the first all-Russian duo to compete for a Grand Slam title.
The rivals in the semifinals of the 144th and 26th rackets of the world were Dutchmen Demi Schürs and Wesley Kolhof, seeded under the third number.
As favorites, they started the match with a break, and in the second game they earned two aces, but still Vesnina and Karatsev were able to quickly equalize the score.
Until the end of the game, none of the duos took the lead, until Kolkhoff made a double fault in the tenth game.
Although the Dutch managed to play three break points, the next two rallies, and with them the entire first set, remained with the Russians.
In the second game, there was no longer a special struggle between the two pairs.
Vesnina and Karatsev immediately won five games in a row, only after that allowing the Dutch to avoid the "steering wheel".
It took Russian tennis players a little over an hour to qualify for the main mixed match.
Now Vesnina is waiting for her 15th final of the Grand Slam tournaments in doubles and mixed categories, and Karatsev will challenge the title at this level for the first time in his career. They only had to beat the American Desire Kravchik and the British Joe Salisbury, who got their ticket to the final without a fight. At the same time, the Russians may think about joint participation in the Olympic Games in Tokyo, where medals in mixed doubles will be played.