Wimbledon 2021: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Karolina Muchova preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: (16) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs (19) Karolina Muchova

Date: 3 July 2021

Tournament: The Championships, Wimbledon

Round: Third round (Round of 32)

Venue: London, Great Britain

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Grass

Prize money: £17,066,000

Live telecast: USA - ESPN & Tennis Channel | UK - BBC TV & Radio | India - Star Sports / Disney+ Hotstar VIP

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Karolina Muchova preview

16th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and 19th seed Karolina Muchova -- the highest remaining seeds in their quarter -- will square off in a tasty third-round encounter at Wimbledon on Saturday.

Pavlyuchenkova, who reached her first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros last month, made a strong start to her campaign at Wimbledon. She was in fine form in her wins over Ana Bogdan and Kristyna Pliskova, dropping a total of 10 games.

Following the exits of big names including Serena Williams and Elina Svitolina, the Russian will sense an opportunity to make a deep run.

Karolina Muchova

Muchova, meanwhile, was made to work hard to reach the third round. The 2019 quarterfinalist was pushed to the limit in her second-round match against Camila Giorgi, but managed to come through in three sets despite squandering six match points.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Karolina Muchova head-to-head

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova leads Karolina Muchova 2-0 in their current head-to-head. Both meetings -- in Moscow in 2019 and Madrid this year -- were closely contested affairs.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Karolina Muchova prediction

Pavlyuchenkova will look to book a spot in the second week at Wimbledon for the first time since 2016.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Karolina Muchova have showcased some of their best tennis in the last few weeks and will enter this contest brimming with confidence.

Muchova, in particular, has had a strong season. The Czech youngster is the only player this year to have notched wins over World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty and second-ranked Naomi Osaka. That, coupled with her deep runs in Melbourne and Madrid, has provided ample evidence of her abilities.

Pavlyuchenkova, meanwhile, is coming off a surprise run to the final at Roland Garros. She has not enjoyed much success at Wimbledon in recent years, and will hope to turn her fortunes around this time.

Both women possess extremely well-rounded games, and this contest could be decided by who can get the first strike in more often. Pavlyuchenkova has played with a lot of intent in her two matches this week, and if she can stay aggressive and push Muchova back, she should be able to close out the win.

Prediction: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to win in three sets.