Dubai: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova says time is on her side when it comes to turning consistent quarter-final finishes into something more.
The 25-year-old Russian won the last of her eight career singles titles in Linz, Austria, in October 2015, but since then she has reached seven quarter-finals in 2016 and two in 2017, failing to reach a single semi-final on all nine of those occasions.
Her latest quarter-final finish in last month’s Australian Open in Melbourne means she has now reached the quarters in all four Grand Slams both in singles and doubles, but she has still never gone beyond the last eight in a Major.
“Of course, I always want better,” said the world No.23 on the sidelines of the draw for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday. “I can’t say I’m fully satisfied.
“But I am still 25 and I have a few years ahead of me. You want everything now, but it’s a long-term process.
“The most important thing is health and then hopefully the work will pay off as well at some point.”
Pointing to the general trend of women’s tennis players only getting better with age, Pavlyuchenkova said she wasn’t frustrated.
“It’s inspiring more than anything. It just gives hope to everyone that if you work hard no matter what your age or ranking, you can still achieve your goals and play the tennis of your life.”
Ironically, Pavlyuchenkova’s best finish in six appearances in Dubai was when she reached the quarter-finals in 2010.
She meets a qualifier in the first round in Dubai this year, but despite sounding like the perfect start, she is still wary of the threats that lurk.
“I feel like it’s a really strong part of the draw. I have to win two matches before I get to the match against Karolina Pliskova. So that is a big challenge.
“Even with the qualifier, you never know. You have to beat everyone and first you have to deal with those matches before the seeds.
“But again, the draw is just names. When you go on court, it makes little difference. Every day is a new day, a new match. So we will see how it goes.”