Overview
- Anastasia Potapova reached the Madrid Open semifinals by beating Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-3 in a three-set match.
- She entered the main draw as a lucky loser after falling in qualifying, a backdoor route that rarely produces deep runs.
- Her surge included wins over former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko and world No. 2 Elena Rybakina.
- She wobbled after three match points slipped away, then rallied from 1-3 down in the decider and closed it with her 10th ace.
- Next she will face Marta Kostyuk or Linda Noskova, while Ubitennis notes she now represents Austria and cites her as the country’s first WTA 1000 semifinalist since 2009.