The duo played out an utterly compelling tiebreak, with Pavlyuchenkova squandering a 6-3 lead and five set points as she fell at the quarter-final hurdle at the All England Club for a fourth time.
Three years after reaching the quarter-final stage at Wimbledon, Anisimova has gone one step further, and for the majority of the match, her game looked utterly perfect for the grass.
The American struck the ball beautifully from the back of the court, with her signature backhand in glorious full flow as she lasered winners from every angle.
Pavlyuchenkova seemed to be no match for Anisimova for long periods, but found her level towards the end of the second set, but it proved to be too little, too late.
Anisimova now faces world number one Aryna Sabalenka in a tantalising semi-final clash, after the Belarusian edged past Laura Siegemund in three sets.
Interestingly, Anisimova leads the head-to-head with Sabalenka 5-3, and she will certainly go into the contest with confidence.
Pavlyuchenkova had never beaten Anisimova in their three meetings, and it was clear to see why at the very start.
The 23-year-old raced to a 4-0 lead against her Russian opponent before she finally got on the board in the fifth game of the match. However, Anisimova continued to crush the ball, breaking again to take the opening set 6-1 in just 27 minutes, despite struggling with her first serve.
Pavlyuchenkova put up far more of a fight in the second set, saving two break points in the fourth game after some uncharacteristic errors from Anisimova.
Anisimova then failed to serve out the match at 5-4, missing two set points in the process, as Pavluychenkova began to raise her level on the big points with some gutsy tennis.
She started to cut a frustrated figure, slumping on her knees after missing several more opportunities to take the initiative, with her game falling away.
The tension was clear to see for both players in the tiebreak, but finally, on her fifth time of asking, Anisimova sealed the win, dropping to the floor in ecstasy.