Video Highlights: Sabalenka falls in third round to Pavlyuchenkova
On day six of the French Open on Friday, it was Aryna Sabalenka who took on 31-seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round. It was Pavlyuchenkova with the major upset, defeating Sabalenka 6-4, 2-6, 6-0 in just an hour and 40 minutes. Here are the highlights from the match below.
It was the third career meeting between the two, as Sabalenka and Pavlyuchenkova split the first two matchups. Sabalenka actually beat Pavlyuchenkova in Madrid earlier this year, but was unable to beat her again today. Pavlyuchenkova now leads the head-to-head 2-1.
More from Lob and Smash
- Caroline Wozniacki gets her wild card for the Australian Open
- Tennis News: Rafael Nadal, Emma Raducanu and protected rankings
- Martina Navratilova: Money lost by coming out was in the ‘millions’
- Tennis News: Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios and Matteo Berrettini
- Boris Becker and Rick Macci bicker over Carlos Alcaraz
Sabalenka got off to a quick start in the first set, leading 3-0 at one point, but Pavlyuchenkova came storming back, winning the next five games to take a 5-3 lead. After a hold from Sabalenka, Pavlyuchenkova would go on to serve it out for a one set to love lead. The biggest difference was the second serve points won for Pavlyuchenkova, as she won 55% of the points on her second serve compared to 33% from Sabalenka in the set, according to Infosys Match Centre.
In the second set, we saw the Sabalenka we are used to seeing, as she won 100% of the points when she got her first serve in, preventing Pavlyuchenkova from getting a single look at a break point. Sabalenka would go on to break twice in the set, converting on the only two opportunities she had, to take the second set and force a decider.
In the final set, the momentum completely shifted as Sabalenka could not stop hitting unforced errors. Sabalenka had 17 unforced errors to go along with just six winners, while Pavlyuchenkova also had six winners, but only hit three unforced errors. Pavlyuchenkova broke Sabalenka three times in the set on four chances, while winning 75% of the points on the return of serve. The third set got away from Sabalenka quickly, as Pavlyuchenkova took the set 6-0 to advance to the fourth round and eliminate the 3-seed from the tournament.
With Sabalenka out, the highest seed left in her half of the draw is Serena Williams, who plays her third round match on Friday against Danielle Collins.
For Pavlyuchenkova, she will get the 15-seed Victoria Azarenka in the next round, as she defeated American Madison Keys earlier on Friday.