Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is expecting a great return to tennis as she has not given up on her dream of becoming a Grand Slam champion. Pavlyuchenkova, who participated in a total of three tournaments in 2022 due to a knee injury, is healthy and ready to start her 2023 season on time.
Pavlyuchenkova, 31, reached her first Grand Slam final at the 2021 French Open before losing to Barbora Krejcikova. “I would love to win a Grand Slam. That is my goal for sure and it still drives me. Of course, I always wanted to be on top of the game and be number 1, but I think it’s like a girl’s dream.
Actually, I’m more focused on the titles and the big results than the ranking,» Pavlyuchenkova told Alize Lim on Tennis Majors’ Major Talk.
Pavlyuchenkova has had deep Grand Slam runs
Pavlyuchenkova, a former world number 11, has shown throughout her career that she can play well on all surfaces.
Pavlyuchenkova’s best Grand Slam result came at the 2021 French Open, where she came within a set of winning her first Grand Slam title. In the 2021 French Open final, Krejcikova beat Pavlyuchenkova in three sets 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
When it comes to the other Grand Slams, Pavlyuchenkova has also had deep runs. At the Australian Open, Pavlyuchenkova is a three-time quarterfinalist. When it comes to Wimbledon, Pavlyuchenkova made it to the quarterfinals in 2016 before losing to Serena Williams.
At the US Open, Pavlyuchenkova also reached the quarterfinals, having reached the quarterfinals in 2011. Now that Pavlyuchenkova is healthy again, she is aiming to win her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. At the start of the 2022 season, Pavlyuchenkova reached the third round of the Australian Open before losing to Sorana Cirstea.
Pavlyuchenkova was then sidelined for three months before returning to action for just two clay-court tournaments. Whether Pavlyuchenkova can become a Grand Slam champion at the Australian Open remains to be seen.
