‘Absolutely adorable’: Mixed doubles duo Pavlyuchenkova and Rublev win hearts on way to booking Olympic final place for ROC

30 Jul, 2021 11:43

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev are guaranteed at least a silver medal in Tokyo after the ROC pairing beat Australia’s Ash Barty and John Peers in a semi-final thriller.

Dynamic double act Pavlyuchenkova and Rublev took a super tiebreak 13-11 after splitting the first two sets 5-7 6-4 against their Aussie rivals.

The Russian pair saved match point in a tense finale, recovering from 4-6 down to clinch victory in a gutsy display. 

There is the chance of an all-ROC final as fellow Russians Aslan Karatsev and Elena Vesnina took on Serbian pairing Novak Djokovic and Nina Stojanovic in the other mixed doubles semi-final.

Fans online have been in thrall to the Rublev-Pavlyuchenkova pairing in Tokyo, which is the first time the duo have played together.

Their run to the final and a guaranteed medal also partly mitigates a disappointing singles campaign for Rublev, 23, when he lost in the first round to home hero Kei Nishikori.

Pavlyuchenkova, 30, had reached the quarter-finals in the women’s singles before being knocked out in three sets by Swiss star Belinda Bencic.