Vesnina Claims First Quarterfinal Berth
LONDON, Great Britain – Elena Vesnina bested her good friend and doubles partner Ekaterina Makarova in a 5-7, 6-1, 9-7 thriller to make her way to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time.
The pair of unseeded Russians battled it out on Court No.3, weathering a mid-match rain delay during their two-hour-and-forty-seven-minute contest. Vesnina kept her margins cleaner, firing 52 winners to 30 unforced errors against Makarova’s 31 winners and 24 unforced errors. Vesnina was also ruthless at the net, winning 85 percent of her 26 net points.
With the victory, Vesnina also notched her first ever WTA-level win over Makarova, having lost in straight sets in each of their previous six encounters.
Next up for the Russian is Dominika Cibulkova, who edged past No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska in an epic three sets earlier in the day.
Pavlyuchenkova Dashes Vandeweghe Hopes
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova knocked out last year’s quarterfinalist CoCo Vandeweghe in a commanding 6-3, 6-3 win. Pavlyuchenkova kept the American’s powerful serve in check throughout the match, allowing her just three aces and 49 percent of first serve points. She struck 13 winners to seven unforced errors against Vandeweghe’s 18 and 22.
The Russian, who’d previously never made it past the third round at the All-England Club, is now into the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time.
Her reward? A matchup against defending champion and top seed Serena Williams.
“I just find out from my coach that I’m going to play the winner of Serena or Svetlana,” Pavlyuchenkova said afterward. “I have no clue actually what part of the draw I’m in and stuff like that.
“I’m still sort of like happy with the match I just won. It’s tough to talk about Serena or anyone.”
Shvedova Books Venus Showdown
Yaroslava Shvedova, No.96 in the world, dealt a round of 16 upset to the No.28 seed Lucie Safarova, dispatching the Czech in a comfortable straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. With the win she moves into the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time.
The Kazakh’s strong serving proved to be the difference; she fired off seven aces and won 81 percent of points behind her first serve. Shvedova also didn’t face a single break point all match long and converted on three of the thirteen chances she brought up against Safarova.
Up next, she’ll face the five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams for the first time.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.