French Open 2021: Pavlyuchenkova first finalist after beating Zidansek
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has achieved the single game of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. The Russian defeated Tamar Zidansek 7: 5 and 6: 3 in the semifinals of the French Open 2021 and will play against either Maria Sakkari or Barbora Krejcikova on Saturday.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jun 10, 2021, 04:59 pm
When the score was 4: 1 in the second set, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova got at least the little tremor again. Everything looked like the greatest career triumph, the entry into the final of the French Open. But Tamar Zidansek, who had shown great resistance throughout the tournament, came up again to 3: 4 and even served to equalize. But that was too much of a good thing for Pavlyuchenkova. The slightly favored Russian managed the break to 5: 3, after 1:33 hours of play a ball from Zidansek sailed out of bounds. And "Nasty" was able to cheer her victory a little in disbelief.
On Saturday Pavlyuchenkova will by no means go into the final of the second major of the year as an outsider. Because Maria Sakkari and Barbora Krejcikova will also be in a single final game of a major for the first time. For Zidansek, who had to go into extra time against Bianca Andreescu in round one, the best tournament of her career came to an end with a 5-7 and 3-6. The Slovenian will improve by 38 places in the world rankings when number 47 appears for the first time among the top 50 players in the world.
Pavlyuchenkova surpasses Vinci
Pavlyuchenkova has already moved up to 18th place and could climb up four positions if he wins the Bois de Boulogne. These thoughts will certainly take precedence on Saturday against Sakkari or Krejcikova. Because who knows how many chances of a Grand Slam title the 29-year-old Russian will still have in her career.
By the way, when she reached the final, Pavlyuchenkova "overtook" Roberto Vinci. Because no player in the history of the WTA has made more attempts than the Russian. Roberta Vinci needed 44 appearances in the main fields of the four most important tournaments of the scene.
Here is the single tableau at the French Open
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