Pavlyuchenkova grinds downs Zvonareva

Published November 20, 2014

By Mark Meadows

PARIS (Reuters) - Women's tennis badly needed an enthralling encounter to recapture the public's imagination but the fourth round slugfest between Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Vera Zvonareva on Sunday did little to help the brand.

Pavlyuchenkova, 19, beat the third seed 7-6 2-6 6-2 to become the first through to the French Open quarter-finals where none of the women's top three seeds will feature at Roland Garros for the first time since tennis turned professional in 1968.

"When you play less than 50 percent of your potential, it's very tough to win the fourth round of a grand slam," Zvonareva, Wimbledon and U.S. Open runner-up last year, told reporters.

"It's just that she played a little bit more aggressive. That's why I was playing a little bit too passive. It's not acceptable at this stage of the grand slam."

World number one Caroline Wozniacki and second ranked Kim Clijsters crashed out in earlier rounds as the women's game struggles with an identity crisis in the absence of the injured Williams sisters.

Last year's final between champion Francesca Schiavone and Samantha Stosur, also eliminated last week, was widely regarded by pundits as one of the most forgettable in recent years as the pair were not household names.

Saturday's showpiece could be a similar affair unless one of the remaining players in the draw sparkles to life with some exciting rather than grunting tennis, even if the Paris clay makes truly memorable matches tricky.

DESIGNER LABELS

The Russian talked at length last week about outfits and designer labels but there was nothing eyecatching about the display from her compatriots on Sunday.

There was not a drop shot or element of finesse in sight on a half-empty center court. The throngs coming to watch men's masters Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in their later matches shrewdly decided to give the first encounter a miss.

Zvonareva made a shaky start following a slip but broke back twice to go 4-2 up in the first set before folding again and allowing the 14th seed to prevail in the tiebreak.

She picked herself up to race through the second set before a turgid third where both players failed to show a killer instinct and just sent down a succession of baseline bombers.

Pavlyuchenkova, who only came to the net 12 times in the match, sealed the key break for 4-2 though after Zvonareva went long with an off-balance backhand.

"This is my first grand slam quarter-final, so it really means a lot to me, especially beating Vera," said the Russian, who used to train in France.

"Everyone is talking that we don't really have a leader right now in women's tennis. I don't really care."

(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)

URL

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