The following month, at the Rogers Cup, she fell in the second round to Simona Halep and in Cincinnati the following week, in the same round to Angelique Kerber. She was then upset by Rebecca Peterson in the first round of the US Open in three sets. She then lost in the second round of the Pan Pacific Open to Caroline Garcia despite having two match points. She then recorded her best result in four months by making the last eight in Wuhan, scoring wins over Anastasija Sevastova, Kiki Bertens and Petra Kvitová. There, she lost to Barty in three sets. The following week at the China Open, she succumbed in the first round to Sloane Stephens in an intense battle in three sets. She ended the season with back-to-back quarterfinal appearances, in Linz and Moscow, falling on both occasions to Russians Ekaterina Alexandrova and Daria Kasatkina, respectively. Pavlyuchenkova's results in 2018 saw her finish the year at world No. 42, her worst season finish in ten years and her first outside the top 30 since 2012.