Roland-Garros runner-up Pavlyuchenkova reveals ongoing knee problem
The 31st seed has been struggling with knee problems for a while, she told the media in her post-match press conference
Roland-Garros runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has revealed that she has been suffering from an ongoing knee injury throughout the tournament.
The Russian needed treatment during the match which resulted in her left leg being taped up, and she told the media afterwards: “I have to be honest, I wasn’t mentioning because I was still in the tournament. I didn’t want my opponents to hear. But the Sabalenka match, I was actually in a really bad shape physically. I don’t know how I even won that match because I also had a medical treatment there, I had to wrap my leg.
“I’ve struggled with my knees for a while, with my left knee. That caused a lot of pain in my knee after because I compensate a lot in my body. Actually in the third set during the Sabalenka match, I said to myself, ‘If I win this match, I’m going to cry.’
“It’s such a shame, I play so good, but my body says this to me: ‘I don’t want to continue.’
“Yeah, the more you play, the worse it gets to my body. When I was landing on my serve, I felt a lot of pain on the back of my leg. It was almost like pulling, so I had to wrap it up. Then I lost that game 4-3 because it was against the wind. I always felt like she was pushing on my serve. I felt like I needed to do a little bit more with my serve.”
The 31st seed beat Ajla Tomljanovic, third seed Aryna Sabalenka, 15th seed Victoria Azarenka, 21st seed Elena Rybakina, and Tamara Zidansek en route to the final.