MELBOURNE, Australia — Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is the first player through to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, beating two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-3 in a fourth-round match at Rod Laver Arena.
Pavlyuchenkova led 2-0 in the second set before Kuznetsova broke back. Pavlyuchenkova then broke her fellow Russian's serve again at 3-all, and once more in the final game, clinching the match in 68 minutes on her second match point when Kuznestova hit a forehand into the net.
"I'm kind of shocked a little," she said afterward. "But at the same time, so happy."
Pavlyuchenkova will play either Venus Williams or Mona Barthel in the quarterfinals. Williams and Barthel play the next match at Rod Laver.
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