The results of the experience: how the Russians reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova reached the 1/4 finals of two Grand Slam tournaments in the season for the first time since 2011. This happened thanks to a difficult victory over Sonai Kartal at Wimbledon. In the first set, Anastasia won back the serve for the game, which happened due to a judicial error, and in the second set she broke the resistance of the British due to her incredible experience. Anastasia's close friend Karen Khachanov also won his match. The Russian coped with Kamil Mayhrzhak without unnecessary nerves and will now try to pass Taylor Fritz. With a game like this, Karen can do it.

Great game

Despite his status as the 109th racket of the world, Kamil Majhrzak posed a serious threat. In London, the Polish tennis player passed the finalist of Wimbledon 2021 Matteo Berrettini, and in the third round he dealt with Alexander Zverev's offender Artur Rinderknesh in three sets. The 29-year-old tennis player immediately added 30 positions in the live rating, approaching a career record. Kamil returned to the top 100 after being disqualified for 13 months for doping. Although the ITIA found that microdose had no effect on the results, Majhrzak did not escape punishment.

Khachanov came to this match after two five-set wins in a row over Shintaro Mochizuki and Nunu Borges. However, all the worries that Karen would not have time to recover were in vain. The Russian moved around the court very well and served the ball superbly first. In the entire first set, Majhrzak scored only six goals at the reception. However, Kamil served well, and if it hadn't been for the failure in the third game, it could have reached a tie-break.

The second set started extremely poorly for the Pole. He gave a quick break, and then a second one. As a result, the game lasted only 30 minutes, and this time Majhrzak took only three goals at the reception. And when Khachanov scored a quick break (2-1) at the start of the third set, it seemed that the matter would end in defeat. However, Kamil immediately made a reverse break and played from a position of strength for a while. The fate of the game was decided in the seventh game, which Karen won on a long "even", making his fifth break. Then the Russian confidently confirmed it, giving it through twice. This finally dismantled the opponent. Maihrzak scored the ninth game on his serve.

"I acted great," Khachanov said in an interview on the court. — You can say that I haven't played here for two years (Karen didn't play in 2023 due to injury, last year he was eliminated in the second round). I didn't want to go back to the grass, so I'm very happy that in the end I managed to get into the top eight. Such victories are more inspiring than the five-setters. However, you saw for yourself how fit I was. That's why I didn't want to bring it to the fifth set. But if I had to play him, I would be fine."

The Russian repeated his best result at the British major, having previously reached the quarterfinals in 2021. Then he lost to the future winner Novak Djokovic. Now the task will be a little easier — fifth seed Taylor Fritz. After a crazy match with Giovanni Mpetshi Perricar in the first round, the American also beat Gabriel Diallo in five games. Then there was a fairly easy victory over Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina, and Fritz went through the fourth round on Jordan Thompson's refusal in the second set.

The stolen game

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova had to play with one of the main sensations of this Wimbledon, Sonai Kartal. In the home stands, the petite Briton passed 20th-seeded Elena Ostapenko and Victoria Tomova, and in the third round she defeated Diana Schneider's offending Diane Parry. Kartal beat Emma Raducana in the live rating and became the second racket of Great Britain after Katie Boulter. She could have bypassed Alex de Minaur's girlfriend if she had passed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

However, the Russian woman did not agree with this scenario. The award-winning tennis player has been having one of her best seasons in recent times and, thanks to her victories over Ajla Tomljanovic, Ashlyn Krueger and Naomi Osaka, she immediately added 15 positions in the live ranking. Anastasia reached the second week of Wimbledon for the first time since 2016 and was not going to stop there. Although in the first set, both tennis players were noticeably nervous, exchanging breaks over and over again. The important moment of the game happened in the ninth game. With the score 4:4, the electronic judging system made a mistake in favor of Kartal. By "more", the Russian woman's ball hit a decent out. However, the referee ordered a replay, and the Russian lost the game, which lasted 13.5 minutes.

"I know the ball was out. You can't prove otherwise. She's a local, and they can say whatever they want. You stole a game from me," Pavlyuchenkova said during a short break.

However, everyone knows about Anastasia's combative nature. This situation made her even angrier. The Russian did not allow Sonai to serve for the set, and then performed superbly in the tiebreak. She confidently led 4-1, then missed one mini-break, but finished the game beautifully with two winners. The first set lasted as long as 77 minutes.

"When I took the first game, I realized that I was coping with the pressure of the stands,— Anastasia stressed after the match. "I calmed down internally, I practically stopped making mistakes, and everything turned out as well as possible."

Pavlyuchenkova made a quick break due to two beautiful candlesticks and an excellent game at the net. However, Kartal immediately equalized the score and took the lead (2:1). Anastasia had a difficult time in the fourth game, but despite a double mistake, she equalized the score. And in the fifth game, she made, as it turned out, a decisive break (3:2). Sonai helped with unforced errors, which were quite a few on her part in the first game. After that, the Russian woman calmed down and did her job. As a result, one extra break was enough for her to win. When serving for the match, she made the first ace of the match and finished with a beautiful forehand.

"This is a great result for me, considering that I always thought I couldn't play on grass. It wasn't easy for me against Sonai. She moved well, won difficult draws with such support, but I'm glad that in the end everything ended in success for me," Pavlyuchenkova summed up the meeting.

For reaching the semifinals, the Russian will play with Amanda Anisimova or Linda Noskova.

Also on Monday, July 7, three more Russians will try to make it to the 1/4 finals: Mirra Andreeva, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Lyudmila Samsonova.