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Match details
Fixture: (5) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Anastasia Gasanova
Date: 18 March 2021
Tournament: St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy 2021
Round: Third round (Round of 16)
Venue: St. Petersburg, Russia
Category: WTA 500
Surface: Outdoor hardcourt
Prize money: $1,897,805
Match timing: Approx 5 pm local time, 7.30 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Anastasia Gasanova preview
Playing in just her second WTA main draw event, Russia's Anastasia Gasanova has managed to find her way into the last-16 of the 2021 St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy. Gasanova showed plenty of fighting spirit and tenacity in her marathon 6-2, 6-7(6), 7-5 second-round win over Katarina Zavatska, which lasted 3 hours 4 minutes.
The 21-year-old first burst on to the scene by upsetting Karolina Pliskova in Abu Dhabi at the start of 2021. She looks to have carried the momentum into her home tournament, and will be hopeful of scoring another couple of wins.
Awaiting her in the next round is fifth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who scored a resounding straight-sets win over Cagla Buyukakcay in her opening match.
A former top-20 player, Pavlyuchenkova is a well-established name on the tour and has plenty of achievements to boast of. She has won 12 WTA titles, most of which have come on hardcourts — the surface where the big-hitting Russian is most comfortable.
While she hasn't won a title since the 2018 Internationaux de Strasbourg, Pavlyuchenkova continues to be a regular feature at the elite level.
Anastasia Gasanova vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova head-to-head
This is set to be the first career meeting between Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Anastasia Gasanova, so their current head-to-head stands at a 0-0 deadlock.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Anastasia Gasanova prediction
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova had made a habit of putting together a strong start to the season in the last couple of years, but that hasn't been the case in 2021. Pavlyuchenkova has repeatedly found herself in difficult sections of the draw, and is yet to reach a quarterfinal this season.
That said, the 29-year-old does possess one of the most well-rounded games on the tour. And with a relatively open field in St. Petersburg, she would be greatly fancying her chances of picking up the title.
For Anastasia Gasanova, the key will be to find a way to neutralize the power of her opponent's groundstrokes. The 21-year-old will have to attack right from the start, as a passive approach is unlikely to win her many points against Pavlyuchenkova.
Gasanova has a lot of matches under her belt this season, which may or may not be a good thing. She went back to competing on the ITF circuit following her breakthrough in Abu Dhabi, but didn't have the kind of success she would have hoped for.
The youngster will need to put up a near-flawless show if she wishes to repeat her heroics from Abu Dhabi. But after her draining second-round match there's every chance that fatigue could creep in, which would make it all the more difficult for Gasanova.
Prediction: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to win in straight sets.
