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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was hurled with negative comments and insults by angry bettors following a thriller loss to Jessica Pegula at the Adelaide International.
Pavlyuchenkova, a former world No. 11, took on No. 2 seed Jessica Pegula in the Adelaide quarterfinal on Thursday. Although Pavlyuchenkova - who made the Adelaide main draw as a qualifier - was the underdog against world No. 5 Pegula, she still delivered a good performance and competed extremely well before the American claimed a tight 6-7 (1) 7-5 6-4 win.
Although it was a positive Adelaide campaign for Pavlyuchenkova, she still faced online abuse and received some pretty negative just because she lost a tight contest to one of the top players in the world.
"You'll never play a better match in your life. Enjoy your inevitable season ending injury," one of the comments on Pavlyuchenkova's Instagram post read.
Another wrote: "I wish all worst to your family and you for this fix, but in life Carma comes."
Pavlyuchenkova screenshotted a couple of negative comments and posted it on her Instagram Story with a caption: "(A) never-ending process that we, as tennis players, face after nearly three-hour battles. Positive vibes only."
Pavlyuchenkova fell short to Pegula in a thriller
Down by an early break, Pavlyuchenkova managed to get the break back and eventually send the first set into a tie-break. In the first-set tie-break, Pavlyuchenkova and Pegula were tied to one point apiece before the Russian won the next six points to clinch the opener.
After winning the first set, Pavlyuchenkova also started the second set with a break but Pegula got the break back instantly in the second set. Late in the second set, Pegula saved a break point in the 11th game for a 6-5 lead before breaking Pavlyuchenkova in the 12th game - the game in which the Russian was serving to stay in the second set.
In the third set, Pavlyuchenkova lost her serve in the fourth game but refused to quit as she managed to break back Pegula immediately in the following game. But Pavlyuchenkova lost her serve again in the key moments of the match as Pegula broke the Russian in the 10th game to complete a three-set win.
Pavlyuchenkova is now set to play at the Australian Open, where she faces Donna Vekic in the first round.