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Pavlyuchenkova Solves Radwanska Riddle

Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MONTRÉAL, Canada – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s excellent summer continued at the Rogers Cup as the Russian shocked 2014 champion and No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-1, earning her first Top 10 win of the season.

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“Woo!” she exclaimed during her on-court interview. “I’m really happy and I knew it’d be a tough match. Every time I play against Agnieszka, it’s 7-6 in the third, or something.

“She’s a really tough opponent, and so I’m really pleased with the win.”

Pavlyuchenkova has played some of her best tennis since linking up with new coach Dieter Kindlmann; showing off some of the ball-striking that took her to a career-high ranking and a pair of Grand Slam quarterfinals in 2011, she reached the last eight at Wimbledon for the first time a few weeks ago and appeared ready to go toe-to-toe with Radwanska on Thursday.

Taking the opening set behind some superb shotmaking, the No.16 seed built a nearly identical lead in the second set, earning two match points on her serve at 5-4.

“I think I’m still recovering from that point we had in the second set – the long one,” referring to a long rally as she attempted to serve out the match.

But the reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion wouldn’t go down without a fight, breaking back on a netcord winner and sneaking off with the ensuing tie-break from an 0-3 deficit.

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“I think it was mental, especially in the third set after losing the second from being two match points down. I thought I had the match in my pocket, but I lost it. It was very mental, but I’m proud of the way I pulled it through in the end.”

Picking up where she left off in the second set, Pavlyuchenkova used her high-octane game to its full effect against Radwanska, hitting 49 winners to 37 unforced errors while Radwanska hit 21 winners to 19 unforced.

Into her first Rogers Cup quarterfinal, she next plays the winner of Thursday night’s third round between No.6 seed Venus Williams and No.10 seed Madison Keys.

“I really like this tournament and it’s unfortunate that I’ve either had to pull out or not be in the best condition. So I’m happy to finally be in the quarterfinals here.”