Tennis news - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beats Sloane Stephens in marathon contest to reach quarters

Unseeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won a marathon three-setter against American fifth seed Sloane Stephens 6-7(3) 6-3 6-3 to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals on Sunday and match her best show in Grand Slams.

Stephens gave up a 4-1 advantage in the opening set to win it on a tiebreaker but Pavlyuchenkova rallied once again from an early break down to convert her third set point and level the match.

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The 2017 US Open winner then lost steam as the world number 44 converted her second match point to seal the contest in two hours and 32 minutes.

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Sloane Stephens' run was ended at the fourth-round stage

Image credit: Getty Images

The fifth-seeded Stephens produced her best performance at the Australian Open in five years, but the 2018 French Open runner-up struggled with her serve and faced a total of 23 break points in an error-strewn display.

Pavlyuchenkova's total of 46 winners to Stephens' 28 underlined her superiority as she reached a fifth Grand Slam quarter-final.

For a place in the semi-finals, Pavlyuchenkova will meet another American in unseeded Danielle Collins, who earlier thrashed 2016 champion and second seed Angelique Kerber 6-0 6-2.

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