Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is hoping for a major return to tennis as she hasn’t given up on her dream of becoming a Grand Slam champion.
Pavlyuchenkova, who appeared in a total of three tournaments in 2022 due to a knee injury, is healthy and ready to start her 2023 season on time.
Pavlyuchenkova, 31, reached her first Grand Slam final at the 2021 French Open before losing to Barbora Krejcikova.
“I would love to win a Grand Slam. That’s my goal for sure and it still drives me. Of course, I always wanted to be on top of the game and be No 1, but I think that’s like the dream of a little girl. Actually, I’m more focused on the titles and the big results more than the ranking,” Pavlyuchenkova told Alize Lim on Tennis Majors’ Major Talk.
Pavlyuchenkova has had deep Grand Slam runs
Pavlyuchenkova, a former world No 11, has proved throughout her career that she can play well on every surface.
Pavlyuchenkova’s best Grand Slam result came at the 2021 French Open, where she was a set away from winning her first Grand Slam title.
In the 2021 French Open final, Krejcikova beat Pavlyuchenkova in three sets 6-1 2-6 6-4.
When it comes to the other Grand Slams, Pavlyuchenkova has also had deep runs.
At the Australian Open, Pavlyuchenkova is a three-time quarterfinalist.
When it comes to Wimbledon, Pavlyuchenkova made the quarterfinal in 2016 before losing to Serena Williams.
At the US Open, Pavlyuchenkova has also been a quarterfinal as she reached the last-eight in 2011.
Now that Pavlyuchenkova is healthy again, she will be aiming to win her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.
At the start of the 2022 season, Pavlyuchenkova made the Australian Open third round before losing to Sorana Cirstea.
Pavlyuchenkova was then out for three months before returning to action for just two clay tournaments.
It remains to be seen if Pavlyuchenkova can become a Grand Slam champion at the Australian Open.