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Playing in her 16th Wimbledon, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova staged a determined comeback to defeat Naomi Osaka 3-6 6-4 6-4 in the third round.
The world No. 53 Osaka opened the match in dominant fashion, firing three aces in her first service game and quickly breaking Pavlyuchenkova to take a 2-0 lead, which she consolidated with a love hold for 3-0. Although Pavlyuchenkova rallied from 1-4 down and threatened to level the set, she was broken while serving at 3-4. Osaka held firm, closed out the set on her serve at 5-3, and converted her third set point to seal it in 36 minutes.
In the second set, Pavlyuchenkova took control early, racing to a 3-0 lead before Osaka fought back to level the score at 3-3. Undeterred, Pavlyuchenkova held firm under pressure, saving two break points to secure a crucial hold for 5-3. She then broke Osaka in the following game to take the set in 44 minutes and force a decider.
Moving with greater ease and striking the ball more cleanly, Pavlyuchenkova surged to a 3-0 lead in the final set, winning her fifth game in a row. During the changeover, Osaka was seen talking to herself in an effort to regroup—and it appeared to work. She responded with three consecutive games to level the score and even held two break points for a 4-3 lead. But Pavlyuchenkova held her nerve to save both, and later delivered the decisive blow by breaking Osaka, who committed an unforced error on match point.
Osaka has never been past the third round at Wimbledon, while Pavlyuchenkova was a quarterfinalist in 2016.
