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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova made her long-awaited Slam breakthrough on Thursday as she dispatched World No. 85 Tamara Zidansek 7-5, 6-3 to reach the Roland Garros final.
A long-time member of the star-studded Russian Fed Cup team, Pavlyuchenkova has had her issues dealing with expectations in the past. But the 29-year-old has now finally delivered on the grandest stage of the sport.
The affable Russian's semifinal win even earned appreciation from none other than Maria Sharapova, who posted a complimentary message on social media for her friend and compatriot.
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As Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova looks to put Russia back into the Slam winners' list, here are three talking points from her semifinal win over Tamara Zidansek.
#1 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova relentlessly attacked the Tamara Zidansek backhand
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova came in with a clear strategy — attack the weak backhand of Tamara Zidansek as much as possible.
Zidansek's forehand is a massive weapon that has been instrumental in her journey to her maiden Grand Slam semifinal. The shot has racked up more than 100 winners this fortnight, and it played a big role in knocking out sixth seed Bianca Andreescu and 33rd seed Paula Badosa.
Pavlyuchenkova knew she couldn't afford to feed that wing of the World No. 85, and she played accordingly. Her strategy was evident throughout the match, and even more so in the second set; the Russian consistently engaged in long backhand-to-backhand rallies in a bid to eke out errors from Zidansek.
Once she had pinned the Slovenian in her backhand corner, Pavlyuchenkova then rushed to the net to finish the point. It was a tactic that worked brilliantly, and helped swing the match in her favor.
The statistics showed that the Russian had targeted the Zidansek backhand in 52% of the points, which turned out to be a masterstroke.
#2 Points won on second serve made a big difference
If Tamara Zidansek was hoping to attack the Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova second serve, she was in for a rude shock. Even though the Russian committed three double faults, her second serve was quick and accurate on most of the big pressure points.
Pavlyuchenkova won 14/26 (54%) of her second-serve points whereas Zidansek managed a measly 38% (6/16) success rate on her own second serve. And that was one of the most crucial factors in the 31st seed's eventual win; even when she missed a first serve, she knew that she didn't have to worry much.
After the first set, where the two players combined for five breaks of serve, Pavlyuchenkova's confidence on her second serve helped free her up. By the end of the match the Russian looked totally relaxed, and she wrapped up the win on her very first match point.
#3 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova becomes the first Russian woman to reach a Major final in 6 years
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was a highly successful junior. She won two Slams before turning pro, and climbed to the pinnacle of the world rankings at the tender age of 14.
Pavlyuchenkova did also made her mark on the senior circuit, reaching the quarterfinals of all four Majors soon enough. But it took the 29-year-old a full decade to finally show the world the extent of what she is capable of.
Her march to the final in Paris is significant not just for Pavlyuchenkova herself, but for Russian women's tennis as a whole - which has been sliding downhill ever since Maria Sharapova retired. With Pavlyuchenkova making the Roland Garros final, Russia now has a woman in a Slam final for the first time since Sharapova finished as the runner-up at the 2015 Australian Open.
But Pavlyuchenkova won't be satisfied with just reaching the final. When she walks out on to Philippe Chatrier Court on Saturday, she will aim to join Anastasia Myskina, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Sharapova as the fourth Russian woman to lift the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen.
