Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

With recent scandals and issues having cast doubt on the dominance of Maria Sharapova in the Russian women’s tennis circuit, some new and very impressive names have arrived on the scene. Take Pavlyuchenkova, for example.

At just 25, she’s already won 10 WTA Singles titles. Having established herself as a genuine champion already, she’s become one of the most impressive names in the Russian sporting pantheon at present. With an impressive 359 wins, too, Pavlyuchenkova is a player with a huge winning pedigree – not just the potential to do so.

Having been coached by her father and brother, Sergey and Aleks, since she was young, Pavlyuchenkova comes from a sporting background. Her grandmother played basketball for the USSR team and her grandfather was a high-level referee in the same sport. Her father went to the Olympics as a canoeist, and her mother was a powerful swimmer. Having played since the age of six, she’s become one of the most impressive young players in the sport.

At just 25, too, she has many years of progress and improvement still to come.

Best seen on clay surfaces, she’s always been known for her accurate and zinging down-the-line forehand shots. Having won the 2005 Australian Open Juniors tournament, her positive career trajectory followed a win in Monterrey right through to major wins at places such as Linz, Seoul, Oeiras, Washington, Brisbane, Moscow, Paris and Rabat.

At present, she is the highest ranking Russian on the WTA circuit. Indeed, since she reached the Top 50 in 2008 she has never dropped out of it – a hugely impressive feat in itself.

A Quarter Finalist at each of the major tournaments at both Singles and Doubles level, her next step is to take the leap forward and try to win something even more impressive the next time around. With 5 WTA and 8 ITF medals under her belt already, though, and an all-time high ranking of 13 (currently 16), Pavlyuchenkova can safely say that an already impressive career has more to give.