Tuesday 1 January 2013

WTA Brisbane: Pavlyuchenkova back in the hunt, defeats Kvitova

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Last year, I thought it would be Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova's year to shine.  I tipped her at the start of 2012 to make a Grand Slam final, but she ended the season outside of the top 35 and spent the majority of the year looking rather disinterested on the tennis court.  2013 has seen the turnaround that I expected exactly one year ago as Pavlyuchenkova looks fitter than ever and is ready to realise her potential once more.  The Russian enjoyed one of her finest wins to date with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Petra Kvitova to progress to the Brisbane quarter-finals.  I have always said that Pavlyuchenkova is one of the cleanest ball strikers on tour and if she could improve her fitness, she will be top 10 for sure...

In other matches, Daniela Hantuchova reached another step closer to defending her finals points from last year with a 4-6 1-6 7-5 win over Sara Errani.  The Italian displayed her dogged consistency as ever, but endured a sluggish serving performance as her second serves were so slow at the end of the match, they were barely being picked up by the speed gun! Ksenia Pervak backed up her first round win over Caroline Wozniacki with another third set tiebreak win, saving four match points against Urszula Radwanska.  Finally, Serena Williams was in complete cruise control as she beat Alize Cornet, 6-2 6-2.


Highlights from Day 3 in Brisbane

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