By Alberto Amalfi | @Tennis_Now | Thursday, April 18, 2024
World No. 53 Arantxa Rus upset top-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to advance to the Rouen quarterfinals.
Photo credit: Francois Nel/Getty
It was Rus hour in Rouen.
World No. 53 Arantxa Rus continues to pose problems for Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
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The left-handed Rus toppled top-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to advance to the Rouen quarterfinals.
While it's an upset in terms of ranking, Rus has mastered the former French Open finalist in the past.
This was Rus's fourth win in five meetings vs. Pavlyuchenkova, including her fourth consecutive clay-court conquest of the former world No. 11.
The 33-year-old Rus broke to open the final set then saved a pair of break points withstanding a tense 12-point game to confirm the break for 2-0.
Rus race out to a 5-1 lead in the decider. Pavlyuchenkova broke back when Rus served for the quarterfinals at 5-2.
Shrugging that lapse off, Rus broke back at 15, her seventh break of the match, to close in two hours, 13 minutes.
Rus, who won the 2023 Hamburg title on red clay, will face Poland's Magda Linette for a spot in Saturday's semifinals.