Russian world No. 52 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova discussed what surprised her about Britain`s Katie Boulter in their first-round match at the Rome tournament. Pavlyuchenkova secured a decisive victory with a score of 6-3, 6-3.
Q: You`ve played Katie Boulter before. Did your opponent come up with anything new today, did anything change in her game?
A: Well, I saw that she ran around to hit forehands quite often on the second serve. She started doing this right from the beginning – in the deuce court, she`d run around the second serve. But then I understood that she would act this way and was ready for it. Other than that, essentially, nothing new. We last played her indoors on hard court in Linz last year, so the conditions were completely different. And here – clay, outdoor courts.
Additionally, Pavlyuchenkova spoke about how she feels after the injury she sustained before the `WTA 1000` event in Madrid.
Q: We`re concerned about your injury. Could you tell us what happened and how you`re feeling now?
A: Yes, unfortunately, I`ve just been plagued by misfortunes – either viruses or infections, and because my immune system was weakened, I was taking antibiotics, and I pulled my leg before Madrid. The hamstring. And in Madrid, I didn`t know if I`d be able to play or not. Again, the doctor said not to play, but I really wanted to compete because, as I said, I hadn`t played full matches since January. It`s very easy to lose all your match fitness, so I wanted to continue getting out on court somehow, even though it wasn`t a very good idea, but I played anyway. My leg is better now here (in Rome), I`m regaining form, I`ve been training, I prepared a lot here, but it`s clear you won`t regain fitness in a week. If only it were that simple. But I`m fighting and fighting.
Marcus Prine