 Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 06 Jun 2006 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 06 Jun 2006 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 06 Jun 2006 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 06 Jun 2006 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 06 Jun 2006 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 06 Jun 2006 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 06 Jun 2006 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 06 Jun 2006 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 06 Jun 2006 |
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| 06 Jun 2006 - Roland Garros, Paris - Eleanor Preston | |
| Pavlyuchenkova picks up the pace in Paris |
Reigning Australian Open junior champion and World No.1 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova stormed into the quarter-finals at Roland Garros on Tuesday, beating 16th seed Teliana Pereira of Brazil 6-4, 6-0.
The Russian had to battle hard in the first set but was in imperious form in the second, cantering through to a last eight meeting with either Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania or Tamira Paszek of Austria.
Buzarnescu and Paszek face off on Wednesday after both won their 2nd round matches on Tuesday.
“The match got easier after the first set,” admitted Pavlyuchenkova, who had to come from 4-2 down to take the lead. “I started out playing hard on every ball, forehand and backhand, but she is more used to playing on clay and she was a bit smarter. After a while I started to feel more comfortable and I think she was upset after losing her lead.”
Pavlyuchenkova’s victory in Australia suggests she is more at home on hard-courts and Rebound Ace than the red clay of Roland Garros and she concedes that she has taken time to come around to the idea that she can add this grand slam to the trophy she won in Melbourne.
“I grew up on hard-courts so I always thought I played better on that,” she said. “It’s something I talked about with my coach and he said, ‘why do you think you can only play on hard. If you can play on hard, you can play on clay.’ Now I believe him.”
She also admits that she took time to adjust to her Australian Open success and to come to terms with the expectations and pressures inherent in being a junior grand slam champion and World No.1. “After Australia I thought I could relax and be calm, but I couldn’t,” she said. “For the first couple of weeks I didn’t do much but then I realised that I have to still work hard. Winning a junior grand slam is great but it’s nothing when you are on court. You have to play good here too, and everywhere. You have to prove yourself again.”
Last year’s junior Wimbledon champion Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland showed Pavlyuchenkova (and the rest of the field) that she is a contender in Paris by beating Corinna Dentoni of Italy 6-4, 6-0. Third seed Yung Jan Chan of Taipei is also through after a 6-1, 7-5 win over Kristina Antoniychuk of the Ukraine. The most dramatic match of the day was between home hope Alize Cornet and Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki. The match eventually ended 36 75 86 in Cornet’s favour with Wozniacki suffering from cramp and Cornet taking a painful tumble on one of her three match points.
In the boys’ competition, the big story of the day was the demise of second seed Donald Young. Following a relatively easy first set Young’s opponent Pedro Sousa from Portugal stepped up his game to sent the American packing 2-6 6-2 6-4. Top seed Thiemo DeBakker’s challenge continued apace when he galloped past Javier Garrapiz-Borderias of Spain 6-1, 6-2. Kei Nishikori of Japan, who knocked out France’s Alexandre Sidorenko on Monday, continued his good form with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Blazej Koniusz of Poland. Fourth seed Luka Belic of Croatia is out though, beaten in the 2nd round by Daniel Lopez of Italy 62 60.
For previous days reports from the Roland Garros 2006, please click here.
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