Saturday, July 5

Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Wimbledon fourth-round match between Sonay Kartal and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, including predictions, head-to-head and their tournament so far.

First-time Wimbledon last-16 participant Sonay Kartal aims to reach the quarter-finals at her home Grand Slam on Sunday when she faces Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a fourth-round match nobody anticipated.

Kartal, a former WTA champion, is inexperienced at this stage, and the only remaining British woman in the draw hopes that the partisan support makes a difference against the 34-year-old Russian, who returns to the fourth round after nine years.

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Match preview

When Kartal started this year's Wimbledon campaign, she probably aimed to at least match last year’s run to the third round.

However, the 23-year-old has now won three consecutive matches at the Championships to reach her first Grand Slam last 16 in her early career.

Only against Jelena Ostapenko has Kartal dropped a set, highlighting the impressive level she has shown in rounds two and three to defeat Viktoriya Tomova and Diane Parry and to reach her maiden fourth-round at a Grand Slam.

With the home crowd behind her, especially after Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu have been eliminated, the last British woman remaining in the women’s draw seeks her biggest win yet to reach the quarter-finals at the All England Club.

Having not won three straight tour-level matches since her run at Indian Wells, which underlines the broader challenges she faces in maintaining consistency, Kartal could now win four consecutive matches to eliminate an opponent 11 years her senior.

While the young Brit's results have been varied in 2025, Pavlyuchenkova has been scarcely active on the tour, as shown by her 12-9 record this year.

Although that record is bolstered by reaching the Australian Open quarter-final, a losing streak followed her impressive run in Australia, which was disappointing for the 12-time WTA champion.

The 34-year-old lost six of her seven matches before the grass season, but her fortunes have improved during the grass courts.

The former world No. 11 reached the semi-finals at Eastbourne before losing to eventual champion Maya Joint in the last four.

Given her inconsistent form in 2025, the world No. 50 will aim for just her 13th win this season to reach her second Wimbledon quarter-final and her first since 2016.

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Tournament so far

Sonay Kartal:

First round: vs. Jelena Ostapenko 7-5, 2-6, 6-2

Second round: vs. Viktoriya Tomova 6-2, 6-2

Third round: vs. Diane Parry 6-4, 6-2

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova:

First round: vs. Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

Second round: vs. Ashlyn Krueger 7-6(4), 6-4

Third round: vs. Naomi Osaka 3-6, 6-4, 6-4

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Head To Head

Both women will meet for the first time on the women’s tour, with the winner taking a 1-0 lead in their head-to-head.

Kartal holds a 19-14 record heading into Sunday's match, a better record than the experienced Russian player, who is 12-9 in 2025 before the fourth-round clash.

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We say: Pavlyuchenkova to win in three sets

While Kartal will enjoy home support, Pavlyuchenkova is tipped to edge out the match on Sunday.

With four of the experienced Russian’s last seven tour matches going to three sets, another lengthy encounter is likely in the last 16, which the 12-time WTA champion is expected to win to set up a quarter-final contest with Linda Noskova or Amanda Anisimova.

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