Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was emotional coming off court and then confessed “I couldn’t stop crying for 20 minutes” after being denied a Wimbledon semi-final spot by Amanda Anisimova. The Russian saw five set points saved by the American 13th seed and lost 11-9 in a second-set tiebreak to go down 6-1, 7-6.
Pavlyuchenkova had beaten 31st seed Ashlyn Krueger, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka and Briton Sonay Kartal on Centre Court to reach the last eight. She is ranked 50th in the world and will rise all the way up to 30th after the tournament. But immediately after losing to Anisimova, the 2021 US Open runner-up admitted she fears she will never get to this stage of a major again after turning 34 last week. “I couldn’t stop crying after the match for, like, 20 minutes,” she said.
“I don’t know if it’s the fact of I don’t know if it was my last chance to do something big, or is it because, given my history with not sure if I will be able to even play or practice earlier this year after Australia and even before during pre-season and all this viruses and Lyme disease. I’ve just been through so much this year.
“After Lyme disease I also taking six weeks antibiotics, and then I pulled my hamstring muscle just before Madrid. Every time I tried to come back, there was something always.
“I don’t know how I coped with that and done those three weeks now, and in Eastbourne semis, and coming straight here to quarters. I don’t know if because of all that, just all the emotions that I have had in me. I actually have never really had that on the actual court losing the match.
“I just had to sit down, and I couldn’t stop crying. Yeah, maybe just because everything, I was through so much and had inside that it just exploded.”
But Pavlyuchenkova put aside her disappointment to pay credit to Anisimova, adding: “First set I have to give her credit because I thought she was playing incredible. I couldn’t touch the ball at the beginning. It was coming really fast to me.
“But also, the court was completely different. It was my first time playing on Court 1. I found it very, very fast and the grass even shorter. In a way it was different. I don’t have luxury of playing on these big courts just because the previous match, we played on Centre, but I thought it was slower and different.
“Obviously her game was different. So it took me a while to get adjusted. Then it’s not like it was too late, but when I actually started to feel better, it was already 6-1, 5-2. Then I just fought till the end. I gave everything I had.
“Came back from match points down and had 6-3 in the second set. So that really sucks. Given all my earlier this year, disease that I was diagnosed with, and yeah, Epstein-Barr earlier this year, and I thought pre-season I couldn’t even practice. I didn’t know if I be even here now. I kind of have to be happy what I’ve done the last three weeks.”
Pavlyuchenkova will now enjoy some rest and relaxation ahead of the US swing. She explained: “I’m looking forward to, first of all, some recovery and just a few days that I can sleep until whatever and don’t worry about my warm-up and booking practice court and a car and how to pack my bag.
“I’m just so tired of these routines. I think this is the most difficult part of the sport, this discipline every day. That’s what I’m saying. If it was just about going out there and perform and compete, I just love competing. But all these things around it, I’m just so tired of it.
“It’s just like these routines. I never liked the routines. It’s so difficult for me. I battle with myself every day to do it. Yeah, so just kind of take some days off and enjoy and relax.
“Then, well, back to work and back to usual because we have US swing. I will just push myself again and see what I’m capable of there, if I can do something good there, or just produce some good tennis and then see.”
