Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova says what was ‘embarrassing’ about the first set of her defeat to Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open

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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was looking to reach the semi-finals in Melbourne for the first time in her career.

The Russian star had made the Australian Open quarter-finals three times before, losing in 2017, 2019, and 2020.

World number one Aryna Sabalenka was her opponent this time around, who entered the match with an 18-match winning streak in Melbourne.

Sabalenka had beaten Mirra Andreeva, another Russian, in the fourth round, dropping just three games as she qualified for her 11th Slam quarter-final.

Pavlyuchenkova gave the Belarussian WTA star the toughest match of her tournament to date, but eventually lost in three sets, 2-6, 6-2, 3-6.

After the match, the 33-year-old revealed how she felt after losing the first set of her quarter-final match.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova felt ‘completely off’ during ’embarrassing’ first set against Aryna Sabalenka

Speaking in her post-match press conference, Pavlyuchenkova explained how she felt during the first set against Sabalenka.

“I just felt like, wow, I’m completely off,” she said.

“I don’t feel the ball at all, she’s hitting so hard, and I cannot hit the ball at all.

“Mentally I thought, oh, my God, it’s just embarrassing, I cannot really play tennis.”

Pavlyuchenkova lost the first set 6-2 before she battled back in the second to take Sabalenka to her first deciding set in Melbourne in almost two years.

“I’m happy with the way I fought back,” she said.

“So the second set I broke her at 1-1, I think, and then kind of found the momentum and started to hit the ball and got into the rhythm.

“At least that is a positive thing from this match and a victory for me, I won a set.”

Having won the second, Pavlyuchenkova broke early in the third before Sabalenka turned things around to take her place in the semis.

“Aryna [Sabalenka], she was quite consistent throughout the match hitting the ball, serving, so she’s a very tough opponent,” she said.

“Once [in the] third set, I lost a little bit of concentration, then she right away took it.”

What Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova said was the ‘toughest part’ of being a lower-seeded player in Australia

Pavlyuchenkova went on to explain what was ‘really difficult’ for her during the match against Sabalenka.

“Conditions were completely different from previous days because I was playing in the daytime,” she said.

“It was completely different courts.

“I feel like this is the toughest part for us being not high-seeded enough because we don’t get to experience Rod Laver and the Center Court.

“Especially night session is completely different conditions, so that was really difficult.”

As is often the case with players ranked outside of the top ten, Pavlyuchenkova played on several different courts before playing on Rod Laver Arena for the first time on Tuesday.

Pavlyuchenkova played on four different courts at this year’s Australian Open tournament, whereas Sabalenka played on Rod Laver Arena for all five of her matches.

In fact, during her last three visits to Melbourne, Sabalenka has played 17 of her 19 matches on Rod Laver Arena, which will no doubt have helped her grow accustomed to the on-court conditions.

In Tuesday’s first quarter-final, Paula Badosa shocked Coco Gauff in straight sets to book her place in the last four.

Badosa will now play Sabalenka for a place in the final, with the head-to-head currently sitting at 5-2, in the Belarussian’s favor.

The semi-final match will take place on Thursday, January 23, on Rod Laver Arena.