It was the fourth round of the French Open 2021 and Victoria Azarenka was up against Russian player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Prior to today’s match, the two had faced each other on six occasions. The rivalry has been dominated by the Belarusian player, winning five of those matches.

Today, however, was a different story as the Russian won 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

Set 1: Victoria Azarenka leaves it late but crosses over

As the match began, both players exchanged breaks in an opening couple of games. They continued the trend again as the set progressed until they were tied at 3-3. 

Soon after, both Victoria Azarenka and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova began serving accurately. The match was in the balance until the Belarusian player got the break to serve for the set at 6-5. 

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However, the Russian player did have a sight to break back, but the composure of the two-time Grand Slam champion helped her overcome the hurdle. After 55 minutes into the match, Azarenka sealed the first set in her favor, 7-5. 

Set 2: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova fights back 

In the second set, Anastasia began proceedings and held her serve with ease. Things got interesting when she broke Azarenka in the very next game and raced to a 2-0 lead. Both players were holding their service games until 4-3 when the Russian got the all-important break to get the lead at 5-3. She consolidated the break by holding serve, thus winning the set 6-3.

It took the Russian 39 minutes to wrap up the second set. During the set, Azarenka’s unforced errors damaged her chances of staying alive during the set. 

Set 3: Victoria Azarenka fails to match up 

As things went down the wire, both players had to give it all in the final set. They started proceedings by breaking each other’s serves in the first couple of games. 

In the fifth game of the set, the Russian player got the upper hand by breaking her opponent to take the lead at 3-2. In the end, the Russian served it out to seal the set 6-2.

The winner of this match will face the winner of the match between Serena Williams and Elena Rybakina for a spot in the semifinals of the French Open 2021. 

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