Anastasia Potapova on Wednesday turned tennis heartbreak into history by becoming the first lucky loser to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final with her thrilling 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova at the Madrid Open, as Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei exited in the women’s doubles quarter-finals.
The Russian-born Austrian, who lost in qualifying last week, has capitalized on her unexpected main draw entry and stunned former world No. 1 Pliskova in a roller-coaster clash despite squandering three match points.
Potapova’s run has included impressive victories over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and world No. 2 Elena Rybakina.
Photo: AP
Asked if she had thought she would be in the final four after her qualifying loss, the unseeded Potapova said: “No, I wouldn’t, for any money and anything. That’s what makes our sport beautiful. I was given a second chance and now I’m here.”
“I’m super happy. There’s nothing better that could happen to me in my life at the moment,” she said.
Potapova is to meet Marta Kostyuk in the semi-finals, after the Ukrainian posted her 10th consecutive victory, on the back of her title run in Rouen, France, 7-6, 6-0 (7/1) over 13th seed Linda Noskova.
Having recently switched allegiance from Russia to Austria, Potapova is the first player representing Austria to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final.
Kostyuk, along with her compatriots, does not shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players ever since the war in Ukraine started four years ago.
Asked if Potapova changing her nationality to Austrian would change her stance when they square off, Kostyuk said: “The only person that I shake hands with is Daria Kasatkina, because she didn’t just change her passport, she also openly said that she doesn’t support the war and all of that stuff.”
“So this is why me and like other girls made the decision to shake hands with her, purely out of respect,” she said. “In this case, I mean, there have been multiple players who have changed their nationality, but none of them ever voiced anything against war or anything to support Ukrainians. So for me that doesn’t change.”
Meanwhile, seventh seeds Hsieh and American partner Sofia Kenin lost 3-6, 6-4, 10-4 to Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and France’s Kristina Mladenovicn in the women’s doubles quarter-finals.
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