Buoyed by new team, can Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova score third big US Open upset over Iga Swiatek?
The 2006 junior champion didn’t win a game in her last meeting with the world No. 1 but is in the midst of a summer surge after expanding her team to include a biomechanic expert.
NEW YORK—Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s best result at the US Open was over a decade ago. For the No. 25 seed making her 15th main-draw appearance, it may as well have been a lifetime.
“You know today on the court, they showed on the screen that it was back in 2011 that I made the quarterfinals,” she told me on Thursday and added with a laugh, “That was ages ago! I was thinking, ‘What the hell have I been doing for all those years?’”
It has been even longer since she lifted a trophy in Flushing Meadows, winning the junior title back in 2006—as a fellow ’91, I reassured her we’re not old—and though she has achieved much in the 18 years since, she admits the transition to the proverbial big leagues took longer than she expected.
The fan favorite and former No. 11 shook off a forgettable spring thanks to a revamp of her coaching squad, setting the stage for a quarterfinal finish at the Cincinnati Open ahead of her 15th US Open main draw.
“I was also very much putting pressure on myself when I was young, always wanting to get good results,” she told me after coming back to beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto in three sets. “Now, I have some different goals where I’m trying more to enjoy the fight and the process.
“When I was seeded before, you feel obliged to go through because I was seeded and my opponent wasn’t. Now, it’s less about numbers because everyone is such a great athlete and player. It all comes down to difference of a few shots, or one-two decisions you’re making, and then factor in luck. I just try to take it with this approach now.”
A finalist at 2021 Roland Garros, the winner of 12 WTA titles has posted her most consistent results at the Australian Open—the other hard-court major tournament—reaching three quarterfinals in four years. For a player with clean technique and capabilities on all surfaces, the 33-year-old is aware much more was within her grasp.
