Potapova reaches semifinals at WTA 1,000-level event

Anastasia Potapova dropped to her knees, put both hands on her face and started crying. The “explosion of emotions inside” came after the 56th-ranked Potapova beat Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3 on Wednesday at the Madrid Open to become the first “lucky loser” to reach the semifinals of a WTA 1,000 event.

She almost gave up the victory, squandering three match points in the second set and having to come back from 3-1 down in the third against the former Number 1-ranked player. It’s been an impressive run considering Potapova lost in the qualifying tournament and only got a place in the main draw as a so-called lucky loser following the withdrawal of another player.

“I (had) a few match points in the second set, on serve, but I couldn’t manage my nerves at that time,” she said. “It seems that this tournament keeps giving me second chances and I keep using them. So yeah, supper happy.”

Russia-born Potapova said she got a boost when her boyfriend, Dutch player Tallon Griekspoor, arrived to watch. “I was a little bit gone mentally in the third set. I didn’t believe in myself at that moment,” she said. “But big respect to my boyfriend who came just on time. He kept telling me, ‘You can do this, we are all together here, just keep going.’”

Potapova said Griekspoor is “not scared” of telling her anything. “I just played, and mentally he kept me there,” she said. “It just happened at the such important moment, and it gave me a lot of energy. Mentally, I think he got this match. I did it physically. He did it mentally.”

She next will face Marta Kostyuk, who defeated Linda Noskova 7-6 (1), 6-0. The women’s tour said Potapova was the first lucky loser to reach a WTA 1,000 or Tier I semifinal since the format’s inception in 1990. She has won four straight matches, including against world Number 2 Elena Rybakina in the round of 16.

“I didn’t expect myself being in the draw again because at first they didn’t take my name as a lucky loser,” she said.