Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was born on July 3, 1991, in Samara, Russian SFSR, to Sergey and Marina. Her father was a rower, and her mother was a swimmer. Additionally, her brother played professional tennis for some time.
Pavlyuchenkova was a very successful junior player, winning the junior titles at both the Australian Open and US Open, as well as reaching the French Open junior final. Her achievements led to her becoming the No. 1 junior player in January 2006.
The Russian entered the WTA Tour in 2008, making it past the first round at the French Open and US Open, and went one step further at Wimbledon by getting to the third round. Pavlyuchenkova became even better known in the tennis world the following year by progressing to the semifinal at the WTA 1000 event in Indian Wells.
She did not drop a set during her run to this stage but lost to Ana Ivanovic in straight sets in the semifinal. 2010 saw Pavlyuchenkova win her first two WTA titles at the Monterrey Open in March and the Istanbul Cup in August, defeating Daniela Hantuchova and Elena Vesnina in both finals.
She also made another WTA 1000 semifinal appearance in Cincinnati in August. The Russian broke new ground at the Grand Slam level in 2011, with runs to the quarterfinal at the French Open and the US Open; losing to Francesca Schiavone and Serena Williams, respectively.
Pavlyuchenkova also successfully defended her Monterrey title. There were no other WTA 1000 semifinals or Grand Slam quarterfinals in the next four seasons. However, she continued to have success at WTA 250 and 500 events, winning five more tournaments at that level during that time.
Between 2016 and 2020, Pavlyuchenkova made four Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances, three of these at the Australian Open, while the other was at Wimbledon in 2016. In addition, she won three WTA titles in one season for the first time in 2017.
At the 2021 Madrid Open, Pavlyuchenkova achieved her first WTA 1000 semifinal in 11 years, including victories against Karolina Pliskova and Karolina Muchova. But the biggest moment of the Russian's career came a few weeks later at the 2021 French Open.
After triumphs against Christina McHale and Ajla Tomljanovic, Pavlyuchenkova shocked the third seed, Aryna Sabalenka, to reach the French Open in the fourth round. This was followed by another stunning win against the two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka.
An incredible 6-7, 6-2, 9-7 victory against Elena Rybakina took Pavlyuchenkova into a maiden Grand Slam semifinal. A straight-set win over Tamara Zidansek set up a final with Barbora Krejcikova. Pavlyuchenkova narrowly failed to claim her first Grand Slam title after losing the final 1-6, 6-2, 4-6.
The Russian suffered from struggles with form and injuries in the following two years. However, she unexpectedly made her first hardcourt WTA 1000 semifinal in 14 years at the Qatar Open in Doha in 2024, where she lost to Elena Rybakina.
