Pavlyuchenkova rues loss of concentration at crucial time in loss to Sabalenka

For a set and a half Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was on fire, lashing winners past the racquet of Aryna Sabalenka, leaving the world No 1 looking strangely helpless.

And then the Russian lost her concentration just when she needed it most, and that was that. From a break down at 1-2 in the third, Sabalenka won five of the next six games to keep her dreams of a third straight Australian Open title on track with a 6-2 2-6 6-3 victory.

“Obviously I’m still disappointed, even though I didn’t know what to expect,” Pavlyuchenkova said. “The start was so-so, I just felt like, ‘wow, I’m completely off. I don’t feel the ball at all. She’s hitting so hard, and I cannot hit the ball at all’.

“Conditions were completely different from previous days because I was playing in the daytime. It was completely different courts. So that was really difficult. Mentally I thought, oh, my God, it’s just embarrassing. I cannot really play tennis.

“Then I’m happy with the way I fought back. So the second set I broke her at 1-1, I think, and then kind of found the momentum and started to hit the ball and got into the rhythm.

“It was also really windy. Aryna, she was quite consistent throughout the match hitting the ball, serving. So she’s a very tough opponent. Once third set, I lost a little bit of concentration, then she right away took it.”

“Sabalenka played her game regardless”

Pavlyuchenkova said Sabalenka had improved mentally, to the point where she never lost her temper, even when things were going against her.

“In the third set when I was up a break, I couldn’t really see and feel that she was frustrated or upset about it,” she said. “She was pretty calm. So I think that’s very strong from her. She kept going and playing her game regardless the score. That’s always, like, a good sign of a champion and a good obviously athlete as a performance.”

The wind caused problems for both players throughout the match but Pavlyuchenkova said the fact that the wind was behind her in the last two games was especially difficult.

“That was really tough,” she said. “Obviously it was for both of us. But she was on the opposite side for the last two games, which is probably shame for me because I really didn’t feel much. Like, it just was not sitting on the racquet.

“Every time after serve the ball, I want to hit it, but then it kind of with the wind takes the ball away. Then I could not really hit it. Then, of course, as I said, once you have this little gap or something, concentration is off. Then Aryna took it, and she served it out pretty well.”

“I could compete with the world No 1”

Despite the defeat, Pavlyuchenkova said she was pleased with her performance.

“Ssometimes it’s about momentum or, I don’t know, just clicked something,” she said. “But I do feel that this year, this event in particular, I’ve played some really good tennis. Sometimes you just a bit lucky there and there. You kind of grind some matches. But here I felt like I was playing really good tennis.

“Even today, parts of the match I felt like, yeah, I was hitting the ball well, and I could compete with world No 1. So that was my feeling.”

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