Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova apologised to the Centre Court fans after reaching her second Wimbledon quarter-final. The world No. 50 won a dramatic first set over Britain’s last woman standing, Sonay Kartal, after accusing the umpire of “stealing” a game from her when she got broken after the electronic line call system glitched at 4-4.
Pavlyuchenkova went on to win 7-6(3) 6-4, booking her spot in the quarter-final here nine years after she first did it in 2016. But she knew the home fans wouldn’t be happy, and immediately said sorry for sending Kartal out of the tournament.
The 34-year-old addressed the Centre Court crowd in her on-court interview, sharing her pride after coming through “tough conditions” to return to the last eight at Wimbledon.
And as she walked away from the microphone, she quickly stopped to apologise. “Sorry, guys. Thank you!” Pavlyuchenkova said before packing her bags and walking off the court.
The more experienced player came out on top in Sunday’s first match on Centre Court. Kartal was playing in the fourth round of a Major for the first time in her career but there were a few too many nerves, and the former world No. 11 took her chances to win in straight sets.
However, Pavlyuchenkova herself didn’t expect to get the job done, and told the fans that she was ready for Kartal to force a decider.
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