Although it was one of the mouthwatering clashes of the first round draw of the Rogers Cup, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was able to stroll to a comfortable victory over Alize Cornet in straight sets and only losing just one solitary game in the process. Furthermore, the Russian triumphed in just 57 minutes, dominating the play and controlling the proceedings throughout the whole match.
Pavlyuchenkova whitewashes and dominates Cornet
Pavlyuchenkova had an encouraging start to the match as she had a comfortable service hold in the opening game. Her great start was reflected on the scoreboard when her aggression worked well against the rusty Cornet, breaking serve to love and taking an early 2-0 lead within a blink of an eye. The Russian continued to excel, utilizing some powerful groundstrokes and excellent shot selection choices to consolidate the break and extend her lead to three games, looking in a hurry.
Saving two game points along the way, Pavlyuchenkova earned yet another break of service as she was firing on all cylinders, playing some peak tennis against the Frenchwoman. The higher-ranked player then easily held her serve and placed herself just one game away from winning the first set, opening up a formidable and merciless 5-0 lead.
Unforced errors continued to plague Cornet as she had no answers to anything on the court, eventually allowing Pavlyuchenkova to seal the bagel after just 22 minutes of play. Pavlyuchenkova was absolutely dominant throughout this set, limiting her opponent to just a mere ten points.
Pavlyuchenkova overcomes slight wobble to triumph
Starting off the second set on a positive note, Pavlyuchenkova held her service game without facing any problems to win her seventh straight game. Cornet’s woes extended into the second set as she was unable to find the rhythm in her game, being broken for the fourth consecutive time to allow the Russian to lead by a set and a break.
Saving a break point for the first time in this match with a smash which almost failed to go over the net, but was saved by a net cord, Pavlyuchenkova eventually held her serve narrowly to prevent Cornet from lessening the deficit. Cornet finally got onto the scoreboard for the first time in the match after she broke serve in the fifth game, sparing herself from more embarrassment.
Nevertheless, Pavlyuchenkova was not affected by the loss of her service game but instead came back stronger as she broke straight back to regain the double break lead, and also earning the golden opportunity to serve out the match. Serving for the match, Pavlyuchenkova had to overcome a break point and her own nerves to eventually complete the job, sealing the win after just a mere 57 minutes.
A statistic worth noting is that the Frenchwoman has only won just three points on her serve in this set. This win over Cornet was definitely an impressive one, being able to keep up her high level of play throughout the match and she was dictating play very well, something she must also do in her second round meeting with world number one Karolina Pliskova.
