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German no. 1 Angelique Kerber has the distinction of being the only former champion remaining in the women's draw of the 2020 Australian Open. And that would put her under immense pressure of living up to the billing.
While Kerber's form coming into the tournament might not have portended great things, she has worked her way into form in Melbourne Park. She will need every bit of her experience in her fourth round match against another seasoned campaigner Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Once touted as the next big thing in women's tennis, Pavlyuchenkova never quite lived up to her lofty expectations. She was a junior Grand Slam champion and World No. 1, and while none of those things have translated to the senior level, her achievements have still been quite solid.
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The Russian has beaten the best in the world on a regular basis, reached the quarterfinals of all the four Slams, and won Premiere Mandatory tournaments in a career spanning over a decade now. Nerves, then, are not going to be something that would bother her too much on Tuesday.
If anything, Pavlyuchenkova is probably the best equipped player to take on someone of the caliber of Kerber at this stage of the tournament. Explosive but measured in her attack, Pavlyuchenkova can deconstruct the game of her opponents quite easily.
That's the kind of aggression that works well against Kerber, who is herself quite masterful at hitting back with interest. It will be a great battle from the baseline between the two steely characters.
Pavlyuchenkova has more firepower than Kerber, but it will be important for her to use that energy in a restrained fashion. In no world is she going to find it easy to get the ball past Kerber, but this as good a chance as any that the Russian will get to be back in a Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Prediction: Pavlyuchenkova to win in three sets.
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