In a week of second chances, lucky loser Anastasia Potapova makes first WTA 1000 SF in Madrid

Anastasia Potapova shouldn’t still be here.

The Austrian had lost in the final round of the Mutua Madrid Open’s qualifying tournament and was in the middle of a Spanish vacation when she was called back to the Caja Magica to compete as a lucky loser 30 minutes before her first-round match.

“I just let it go,” she explained on Wednesday. “I had beautiful two days off in Madrid. I love Spain. I had good food, my family was here. I was really enjoying it.

“I cannot say that I was preparing for something, I was not at all. But I was trying just to recover and to have some nice days. But maybe that's the key, you don't need to be always so zoomed in and so locked in on the tournament. Maybe it's just a matter of sometimes just to enjoy yourself and enjoy the journey, and maybe that's how the results can also come.”

The result that came was a maiden run to a WTA 1000 semifinal, a career breakthrough for the 25-year-old Potapova, a former junior Grand Slam champion ranked as high as No. 21 in the world. She scored back-to-back upsets over Jelena Ostapenko and Elena Rybakina to reach the last eight and survived former No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3 on Wednesday.

“I've been given a second chance, and I've been using it very good,” she said to open her post-match press conference. “Yeah, it actually can happen in tennis, so that's why I think it's one of the most beautiful sports we have. If I was given it, maybe I deserve it, so, yeah, I'm very happy.”

The fairytale run nearly ended against Pliskova, herself in the midst of a comeback from a treacherous injury saga. Potapova played a near-perfect match to twice find herself serving for the semifinals, but Pliskova saved three match points to level the match and surge ahead 3-1 in the subsequent decider.

“I couldn't handle my nerves,” Potapova admitted, later joking “I needed drama” in her visit to the Tennis Channel Desk. “But I also got to say, I've never been in this position in my career. It's for the first time when I'm set up in such an event, quarterfinal, serving for the match. And it's not easy. I think you need to be here a few times to understand it, to learn it, and to get through it.”

I always say, if you got it, maybe you deserved it. So I did work hard. I also, you know, anyone can get a second chance, but how many of those will actually take it? Anastasia Potapova

Potapova fought through frustrations with help from boyfriend and fellow player Tallon Greikspoor, who could be heard shouting encouragement from the stands.

“I think he has bright future in coaching,” she teased. “The things he can say, like I don't think anyone can say that during the match, because he isn’t afraid. Like, he's not scared of me. He can tell me literally like anything.

“He just told me to shut up, to keep on working, to start working with my legs, and that we are both here together in this match, I'm not just by myself. It just happened at the such important moment, and it gave me a lot of energy.”

In a week of second chances, Potapova found one more to reel off the final five games of the match, clinching a result that is projected to return her to the world’s Top 40, having dropped to a low of No. 97 earlier this month.

“I do think it's a miracle,” said Potapova, who finished runner-up at her adopted home tournament in Linz prior to Madrid. “It's pretty rare when you get the second chance and that you go almost all the way until the end.”

In a relatively open draw—only No. 9 seed Mirra Andreeva has won a WTA 1000 title of the players remaining—Potapova will await the winner of No. 13 seed Linda Noskova and No. 26 seed Linda Noskova for the chance to be in Madrid long enough to reach the biggest final of her career.