Russian tennis star
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova made history following her third round
Roland Garros (French Open) match, joining WTA legend
Serena Williams on a very distinguished list.
The World No.333 defeated compatriot Anastasia Potapova to reach the fourth round, and by virtue of this victory became second lowest-ranked player ever to reach the fourth round of the
French Open.
Williams had previously accomplished the feat in 2018, was ranked World No. 451 when she reached the last 16 in Paris in 2018. The American was set to face Maria Sharapova, but pulled out of the tournament due to a pectoral injury.
Only nine players have reached the fourth round across all Grand Slams while ranked lower than Pavlyuchenkova's No. 333 — Emma Raducanu (No. 338, Wimbledon 2021), Martina Hingis (No. 349, Australian Open 2006), Tatiana Golovin (No. 354, Australian Open 2004), Serena Williams (No. 451, French Open 2017), Kaia Kanepi (No. 451, US Open 2017), Victoria Azarenka (No. 683, Wimbledon 2017), Kim Clijsters (unranked, US Open 2009), Justine Henin (unranked, Australian Open 2010), and Tsvetana Pironkova (unranked, US Open 2020).