Russian tennis star preparing Wimbledon request after storming French Open run

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was talked into making a Wimbledon request after writing off the grass-court season. The Russian is back in the French Open quarter-finals after being sidelined with a knee injury for almost a year. She couldn’t get into the Wimbledon draw after her ranking dropped outside of the world’s top 100 but is now planning to request a wildcard.

Pavlyuchenkova is enjoying a stellar run at Roland Garros two years after she reached the final. The 31-year-old is making her first appearance in Paris since she was the runner-up after a knee injury kept her out of competition for seven months.

Now through to the last eight, the world No 333 is set to skyrocket up the rankings and is teetering on the edge of the top 100. But she had already written off the grass-court season after being ranked too low to make the entry deadline cut-off, maxing out her protected ranking usage across the Australian Open and French Open.

After upsetting 28th seed Elise Mertens to reach the quarter-final, Pavlyuchenkova was asked whether she would ask the All England Club for a wildcard. The former world No 11 initially laughed off the suggestion before taking it onboard and revealing that she would make the request.

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Pavlyuchenkova was first asked whether she had a UK visa ahead of Wimbledon after Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva reported that she was still waiting to receive hers. “First of all, I have one. Second of all, I’m not worried because I’m not going to Wimbledon this year,” the 31-year-old responded. 

The 12-time title winner explained why she wouldn’t be playing, adding: “Because my protected ranking allowed me to play only two Grand Slams, and Roland Garros is my second Grand Slam.

“So since the deadline was close before Roland Garros, even with the new ranking points that I got from Roland Garros, I’m not qualifying for Wimbledon. Because they are using my old ranking which is like 400, so there is no way I can get in. So no grass season for me this year.”

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Pavlyuchenkova was later asked whether she had a shot of receiving a wildcard given her impressive run so far in Paris but the suggestion was met with laughed. “Are you serious? Do you think after the situation last year they would give me a wildcard this year?” she responded. 

But the 2016 Wimbledon quarter-finalist came round to the idea and said she would be requesting a wildcard. “I can try and ask. Actually, you’re right, thank you. I will try and ask, and I’ll let you know in the next press conference. Fingers crossed,” she said.

For now, Pavlyuchenkova will be focused on Roland Garros. She takes on Czech star Karolina Muchova in the quarter-final.

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