Pavlyuchenkova didn't end up facing any of those Top 20 players.
Three of them - Dominika Cibulkova, Ekaterina Makarova and Flavia Pennetta - lost their opening matches, and the last one left, Lucie Safarova, bowed out in the semifinals. But Pavlyuchenkova had to take on several of the inspired underdogs who picked them off, most notably her opponent in the final, Irina-Camelia Begu, who was actually responsible for beating both Makarova in the second round and Safarova in the semis.
And Begu brought her A-game to the final, going up a break in the first set and, after Pavlyuchenkova came back and won that set, jumping out to an early 3-1 lead and eventually taking the second set. But the No.6-seeded Pavlyuchenkova saved her best tennis for the third set, soaring out to a 5-0 lead and eventually closing the championship match out after two hours and 29 minutes, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.
"I think I was playing well at the beginning, so I got that break and went up 4-1, but then Irina probably got a little bit more relaxed and started serving a lot better," Pavlyuchenkova said afterwards. "She served well the whole match actually, so it wasn't easy to break her at all in the match today.
"After the second set I knew I had to be more energetic and intense out there. I knew I had to play my aggressive game and just do something, otherwise she'd be too good. She was playing so well the whole week. The surface really fit her game. I just needed to stop thinking about the score and go for it.
