Krejcikova has beaten Sloane Stephens, Elina Svitolina, Coco Gauff and Maria Sakkari, while Pavlyuchenkova took out Aryna Sabalenka and Victoria Azarenka, so both have shown they deserve to be in the final.
First, the women’s game is absurdly deep at the moment, and there aren’t that many standout players on clay.
Chris Evert: Women’s tennis has depth and with the pandemic throwing schedules and routines out the window, it’s helped to create more of an equal playing field.
D’Arcy Maine: Players have been saying for the past several years that anyone in the top 100 — and often beyond — is capable of beating anyone else on any given day and we’ve seen that happen over and over again.
Cambers: Hold her nerve and deal with the occasion.
Pavlyuchenkova doesn’t have a dominant serve, but she gets her first serve in as consistently as almost anyone in the game, and that allows her to stay on her front foot.
Evert: Pav needs to continue hugging the baseline and taking the ball early, like she’s been doing this whole tournament.
Maine: Keep playing the game that got her here, continue to be aggressive from the baseline and stay as composed as she has no matter what Krejcikova throws her way.
Krejcikova hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down but after playing a match that lasted well over three hours on Thursday, and with a doubles match on Friday, one has to think there might be some fatigue.
Her backhand down the line has also been a key shot, if she uses that she can open up the court to the Pavlyuchenkova backhand.
She’s more than happy to engage in long rallies, run her opponent around, vary between topspin and slice, throw in some old-school half-lobs, and force her opponent to react well to all of it.
Evert: Taking into consideration Kre’s long semi and she might not have a lot of gas left in the tank.
Maine: Krejcikova has shown her ability to adjust to her opponent’s games very, very quickly and she will need to continue to do just that — and utilize her incredible variety just as she has throughout the tournament.
Krejcikova had 58 unforced errors and five double faults against Maria Sakkari, and she can’t afford to be that sloppy against the far-more polished Pavlyuchenkova.
After 52 Grand Slams and having been an outstanding junior, Pavlyuchenkova would finally have the big title she deserves.
It’s almost mind-blowing that, in this age of parity, someone who has spent most of the last decade in the top 30 and reached at least one quarterfinal in every slam hadn’t yet made a slam final, or even semifinal.
Maine: Of course a victory would change both of their lives, but for Pavlyuchenkova, who has never lived up to the early expectations after a stellar junior career, it would validate all of her years of hard work and struggles.
The intangibles will come into play: Who handles the occasion, the pressure better, who has more gas left in the tank, whose body is not beat up.