Pavlyuchenkova to Face Ostapenko in Linz SFs
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| Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Photo: WTA/ X) © Provided by Asian News International (ANI) |
Linz, Austria - February 3 (ANI): The upcoming Linz Open semifinals promise an exciting clash as top seed Jelena Ostapenko and former champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova secured their spots after comfortable victories in the WTA 500 tournament's quarterfinals on Friday.
Ostapenko, who had a thrilling second-round win against Clara Tauson, breezed through her quarterfinal match against British qualifier Jodie Burrage with a swift 6-1, 6-2 victory in just 70 minutes. Meanwhile, Pavlyuchenkova, the previous Linz Open winner, defeated No.4 seed Elise Mertens with a convincing 6-2, 6-3 performance. This marks Pavlyuchenkova's second tour-level semifinal since her 2022 knee surgery, which had kept her out of action for eight months.
The encounter between Mertens and Pavlyuchenkova was their first straight-sets match in history, with Pavlyuchenkova leading 3-1 in their head-to-head record. Reflecting on her win, Pavlyuchenkova expressed satisfaction with her performance, acknowledging Mertens' fighting spirit.
Pavlyuchenkova's victory prevented the top four seeds from advancing to the final round. In the second semifinal, No.2 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova will face off against No.3 seed Donna Vekic, both securing their quarterfinal victories in straight sets.
As Pavlyuchenkova heads into the semifinals with a 4-1 head-to-head record against Ostapenko, she aims for her first singles final appearance since finishing as the runner-up to Barbora Krejcikova at Roland Garros in 2021. Despite not securing a tour-level singles championship since 2018, Pavlyuchenkova, a past Linz Open champion, expressed her excitement about the prospect of winning in Austria again.
"It's close, but so far at the same time. I haven't had a trophy in a long time, so it would be really nice. It's nice to be in the semifinals, so I'll try to enjoy that, and of course, there are serious opponents out there, so I'm just going to take it match by match," said Pavlyuchenkova.
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