World No. 47 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova discussed her first-round loss to Anastasia Sevastova at the Madrid tournament, where she was defeated with a score of 4/6, 5/7.
“I had an injury that I got a week before Madrid,” Pavlyuchenkova revealed. “It was a 1.5 cm tear in my hamstring. I thought I would be able to play, but I was training while limping. At a `Masters` level tournament, you have to play at 100%, whether it`s against Sevastova, Sabalenka, or anyone else. Sevastova is very tenacious on clay; she played smartly, hitting drop shots from the very first ball. She knew about my injury, saw my leg was taped, and took advantage of it. It was difficult for me to move, but I fought, and the match turned out to be relatively close.”
When asked about the persistent issues she`s faced since the Australian Open, including a previous virus, and how challenging it is to want to play and enjoy tennis without pain, and the level of patience required.
Pavlyuchenkova responded with a laugh, saying, “If they gave out prizes for positive attitude, my team and I would receive a trophy.” She elaborated that problems have been occurring one after another since Australia, such as viruses and infections. She was on antibiotics for a long time and didn`t want to go into details, but stated that she is feeling better now and her energy is starting to return. However, now she has this leg injury. “I`m trying to hang in there,” she continued. “There are two options: give everything up or stay positive and hope for the best. I am confident that if everything goes well and my body recovers, I will start training and gradually regain my form.”
Marcus Blakely 
Gilbert Pendleton