Pavlyuchenkova battles past Osaka in three sets to make Wimbledon last 16

WIMBLEDON -- Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova returned to the second week of Wimbledon for the first time in nine years, overcoming Naomi Osaka 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a thrilling 2-hour, 3-minute third-round clash on No. 2 Court.

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Pavlyuchenkova is making her 16th main-draw appearance at SW19 (compared to Osaka's fifth), and reached the quarterfinals for the only time so far back in 2016. However, the World No. 50 is still hitting career milestones at the age of 34. Last week, she made her first career grass-court semifinal in Eastbourne.

Having made her ninth Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open in January, Pavlyuchenkova has now reached the second week of multiple majors in a single season for just the third time in her career. In 2011, she was a quarterfinalist at Roland Garros at the US Open, and in 2021 she was the Roland Garros runner-up and made the US Open fourth round.

Pavlyuchenkova will bid to make a 10th major quarterfinal against home hope Sonay Kartal, who came from 4-1 down in the first set to defeat qualifier Diane Parry 6-4, 6-2. The No. 51-ranked Briton advances to the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Match moments: Pavlyuchenkova had to withstand 15 aces from Osaka, who also mounted charges from 3-0 down to 4-4 in both the second and third sets. Seven of those aces came in the first set, including back-to-back to seal it; Pavlyuchenkova mustered just four points in her first three return games.

But the 2021 Roland Garros finalist's path back into the match came as she began to read the Osaka delivery. She blitzed a backhand return to set up break point in the second game of the second set, and converted with an equally brutal backhand winner down the line. Even when Osaka pegged her back, Pavlyuchenkova stayed positive. At 4-4, facing two break points which would have allowed Osaka to serve for the match, Pavlyuchenkova found an ace and a service winner of her own to escape. A game later, she sealed the set with a hefty forehand return.

The decider was an effective reprise of the second set. Pavlyuchenkova leapt out to 3-0 courtesy of an Osaka double fault; Osaka found a brace of screaming forehand winners to level. At 3-3, Pavlyuchenkova again faced two break points, and again saved them in style -- an ace and a backhand that Osaka could not handle. In the final game, Osaka's forehand let her down with consecutive errors on the last two points.

"I was reading better her serve and returns," Pavlyuchenkova said of her comeback. "Just analyzing her patterns. That's normal for every player -- second, third set you get used to your opponent. It happened to me in past matches -- sometimes I win easily the first set 6-1, then she's getting all my shots back and hitting winners.

"But I stayed calm throughout the whole match. If she serves aces, so be it. If she beats me, she beats me. Mentally, I was really strong in this match, and I stayed aggressive."

"I have nothing positive to say about myself": Osaka was a forlorn figure in press, telling reporters: "I'm just going to be a negative human being today. I'm so sorry. I have nothing positive to say about myself, which is something I'm working on."

Having suffered her second Grand Slam three-set loss in a row, following her first-round exit at Roland Garros to Paula Badosa, Osaka said that this time round, it felt different.

"In Paris ... when I sat here, I was very emotional," she said. "Now I don't feel anything, so I guess I'd prefer to feel nothing than everything."

Osaka has lost her last four three-set matches in a row, stretching back to Rome, though she has a positive 9-6 record in deciding sets this year. She acknowledged that Pavlyuchenkova had taken the key moments out of her hands.

"It's not like I can really even be mad at myself," she said. "I was thinking about the break points that I had. She hit some really good serves. Then she hit a backhand. I can't really do that much about it."

"It looks so nice and green": Pavlyuchenkova has a 7-1 record on grass this year and counting, but she hasn't always been fond of it. A clay-courter by nature, she preferred high bounces and "hated" the way the ball skids low on grass.

But it's now been 18 years since her first professional grass-court match (at Wimbledon 2007, a 6-0, 6-1 loss to Daniela Hantuchova). Pavlyuchenkova can't pinpoint why her feelings changed, but she does know what technical alterations she's made over the years.

"I used to have even bigger swings, so I was always late," she said, flailing her arms to demonstrate. "I had to adjust a little the swings and preparation on the return, try to take the ball a bit earlier, stay a bit closer to the court. Slowly my game started changing."

Last year in Eastbourne, all that work paid off with an unexpected shift in attitude.

"I arrived and I felt the ball was sitting so good on the racquet," she recalled. "I'm just swinging and it's so nice. And it looks so nice and green. Oh s---, do I like grass?

"I changed my mentality and perspective and I just accepted. This is grass, the bounce is low, this is that. Eastbourne was insanely windy. It's just about acceptance. Before, I would lose a point and I would have to discuss with my box about how the bounce is s---, this is that. They were like, 'Just play.' Next three points I would still be talking about it. I think that changed."