With an easy gait: Pavlyuchenkova reached the quarterfinals of the Olympics, Khachanov took a step towards Medvedev

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was the first Russian to win a ticket to the quarterfinals of the Olympics, and one of the main sensations of the women's tournament could not stop her. In the third round, the finalist of Roland Garros got into a rival Sara Sorribes-Tormo, who unexpectedly outplayed the first racket of the world Ashley Barty from Australia at the start of the competition. But this time the 24-year-old Spaniard could not oppose anything to the domestic tennis player, who is going through one of the best stages in her career.

The last time the paths of the athletes crossed was in 2017, so it was difficult to draw any conclusions on this basis. Nevertheless, Sorribes-Tormo managed to gain noticeable experience, and Pavlyuchenkova had a long way to go. But if then at the tournament in Mallorca the Spaniard fought in each of the three sets, this time the superiority of the Russian woman was overwhelming. Even the long pause caused by the rain did not stop her. The opponents left the court with the score 3: 0 in favor of Anastasia, and they were able to resume the game only after almost 50 minutes.

“I hate to play the first match, the most unloved one, but I’m being put like that three times in a row. But I don't have to choose, I'm already used to local time, although I'm not a morning person, it's hard to wake up. We were warned that there was a typhoon and that there might not be games. Shamil Tarpishchev told us this. I was completely confident that I was not playing today, I was relaxed. Well, I haven't gone to the store in the village yet, as I was going. I decided to wait for the schedule, ”RIA Novosti quoted Pavlyuchenkova as saying.

The Russian woman dominated the back line and tried to finish almost every attack with a blow. This reflects the colossal difference in the number of actively won goals (25: 6). Yes, the reverse side of the coin was unforced errors (25:12), but on that day the difference in skill was too great. We must pay tribute to Sorribes-Tormo, who managed to win back 12 of 17 break points. But this was clearly not enough for overall success. The Russian took the upper hand with a score of 6: 1, 6: 3 and advanced to the quarterfinals, where she will face off against Belinda Benchich.

“I had to work hard, everything is easy in the account, but in fact I work out 150%. In the second set, I got tired, sat down with concentration, I gave her the opportunity to play more actively. The break because of the rain influenced me, I had the mood, I felt great on the court, I made only three mistakes during these games, and then after the break I came out - there were completely different conditions, it was stuffy and the sun. I had to spend some time to get into the game, and I was more sluggish, ”the athlete admitted.

In parallel with Pavlyuchenkova, Aslan Karatsev played his second match in the Singles Games. And if you look at the place in the ranking, the current form and the ratio of wins and losses in 2021, then he could be considered the favorite of the confrontation with Jeremy Chardy. The problem is that in the two previous meetings, the Frenchman invariably beat the Russian, and the last time was quite recently - in the first round of Wimbledon.

Everything turned out unsuccessfully for the domestic tennis player this time too.

First off, Chardy served superbly, as evidenced by 20 aces.

Secondly, Karatsev himself risked a lot and often tried to complete the rally with one or two blows.

This had a particularly detrimental effect on his play in the third game.

Jeremy hit the first ball only 50% of the time, thereby giving Aslan an excellent chance to win a ticket to the next round.

But due to haste, the Russian managed to take only four of 24 draws at the reception.

With such indicators, it was difficult to fight for victory - 5: 7, 6: 4, 3: 6.

As Karatsev admitted, one of the reasons for the defeat from Chardy was the weather conditions.

According to him, it was much more comfortable for him to perform on the court before the rain.

“The break did not play in my direction.

When we started, there was no sun, the balls were heavy, flew slower, and after the break, the sun came out.

I lost focus on my serve at the end of the first set, then won the second, and there was no chance of breaking it in the third.

He played very well on his serve.

You can say whatever you want, but it's my fault anyway, there are such pauses, we have to go back, ”said Karatsev.

The last of the Russians on Tuesday was Karen Khachanov.

And he managed to cheer up the domestic fans.

The rivals went to the little-known Australian James Duckworth, who had neither victories in ATP tournaments, nor appearances in the late stages of the “majors” in his track record.

And the difference in class between the opponents was noticeable from the very first minutes of the meeting.

Duckworth tried to act aggressively, but he clearly lacked skill. The result was 30 unforced errors with only seven actively won balls. The Australian tried to fight at the beginning of the starting set, but failed to keep up with Khachanov when he added. Karen took five games in a row, thanks to which he not only won the first game, but also led with a break in the second, and then chalked up four more - 7: 5, 6: 1.

“When I went out to play, I hoped it would be cloudy, I didn't want to play under the sun, but it came out, and the balls began to fly and jump well.

The game went completely differently, it took a couple of games to get used to it.

And at first I didn't serve very many first serves.

He somehow guessed and accepted everything.

Well, I was probably a little nervous in the first games, trying to understand where he plays more, trying to get used to his rhythm.

I continued to fight, stayed in the game, glad that I remained calm and did everything according to the case, ”Khachanov said.

In the third round, the Russian tennis player will face a much more difficult test.

For a ticket to the quarterfinals, Khachanov will fight with Diego Schwartzman, who defeated Tomas Makhach.

Previously, the opponents met each other three times and in two cases the Argentinean took the upper hand.