Russian cutie pie, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, won her way into the semifinals of the WTA BNP Paribas Open played March 11-22, 2009 in Indian Wells, California USA, without dropping a set.
Round one brought Pavlyuchenkova up against No. 97 ranked Marta Domachowska of Poland. Pavlyuchenkova won the match easily 6-1, 6-3. Round 2 was a great win for Pavlyuchenkova, 6-4, 6-4, against the world No. 3 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia. The 3rd round was another 2-set win over No. 59 ranked Karin Knapp of Italy, 6-2, 6-4.
The 4th round gave Pavlyuchenkova an easy victory. Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain retired in the 2nd set. Pavlyuchenkova had won the 1st set 6-3, and was up 3-0 when Vives retired with a left hip strain.
The Quarterfinal was a closer match against No. 11, Agnieszka Radwanska, of Poland, with Pavlyuchenkova winning 7-6 (10-8), 6-4. That set up a Semifinal match against No. 7, Ana Ivanovic, of Serbia. Ivanovic won that match in 2-sets, 6-2, 6-3.
This was the best tournament of the year for Pavlyuchenkova. She seems to be making her move. Getting to the Semifinals bumped her from a No. 42 ranking to No. 27. She is on the rise! Considering she is only 17 years old, she could be a real force on the WTA circuit.
