Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press
MELBOURNE, Australia — “I’ve never done this before,” Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova said as she climbed on a stationary bike in front of a crowd that didn’t feel that much smaller than the one that had watched her 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3 upset of fifth-seeded Sloane Stephens at the Australian Open.
The fourth-round match ended six minutes before 2 a.m. on Monday morning, and Pavlyuchenkova was mentally making a list of all the tasks that stood between her and a good morning’s sleep: the stationary bike, the reporters with their notebooks and microphones, the ice bath, the shower, the change of clothes, the drive back to the hotel.