Former French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova celebrated her return to Roland Garros with a significant victory over Czech player Linda Fruhvirtova on Monday. She expressed that she "feared for her career a year ago due to a knee issue." In a press interview, she mentioned that she "underwent an intensive rehabilitation program and stopped playing tennis completely for almost five months, resulting in a decline in her physical fitness."
After winning 6-2, 6-2 against her 18-year-old opponent, she shared: "I experienced mixed emotions because I was sad. Tears overcame me. I was sad because I wasn't sure what would happen to me next." She continued, "I was also consumed by thoughts like what if I couldn't return to play? There were many doubts... I could barely run, walk, or sit. It was painful all the time."
The 31-year-old player had her best performance in one of the Grand Slam tournaments in the 2021 edition, where she lost to Czech Barbora Krejcikova in the final. She withdrew from last year's edition, along with the second half of the season, to recover from her injury. Previously ranked 11th in the world, she has now dropped to 333 but bolstered her comeback from injury with wins in Madrid and Rome before reaching the quarterfinals in Strasbourg.
