Anastasia Potapova was out of the Mutua Madrid Open on Tuesday 21 April. It’s important to start there, because without that detail, it’s hard to grasp the significance of what she has just accomplished in the Caja Magica. The Austrian lost to Sinja Kraus in the third set of the second round of qualifying. In theory, her tournament was over. Her bags were packed.
However, Tennis sometimes leaves the door ajar. A last-minute withdrawal provided a route into the main draw as a lucky loser. Potapova pounced on the opportunity. On Wednesday, she defeated Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 to achieve the best result of her career; her first semi-final in a WTA 1000. Moreover, never has a WTA lucky loser reached the semi-finals of the Mutua Madrid Open. Also, she is the first player with an Austrian passport to reach this stage at a WTA 1000. Pure history.
The story was already compelling before the match started, but what happened this Wednesday on court made it even greater. For more than an hour, Potapova played as if she carried no scars. Neither the qualifying defeat, the dizzying opportunity, nor Pliskova’s experience seemed to faze her in the slightest. She dominated with tremendous authority, unleashing powerful shots, which she timed to perfection, stepping forward decisively, and punishing every short ball from the Czech.
The scoreboard spoke a thousand words; 6-1, 5-3. Potapova was cruising. Pliskova, a former world number one, Madrid semi-finalist in 2018, and two-time WTA 1000 champion, seemed overwhelmed by an opponent who was doing almost everything right. There was rhythm, power, courage; everything seemed to indicate that this would be a straight-sets victory.
However, in tennis you can never relax until the handshake at the net. At 5-4, and serving, Potapova had two match points. She didn’t take them. Later, at 6-5, serving again, she had another chance to close it out. Again, no luck. Pliskova, relying on her experience and a competitive edge which has never faded, even though the rankings might suggest otherwise, forced a tiebreak and took the contest to a decider.
That’s where everything changed. Or, rather, where everything could have changed. Because after letting three match points pass her by and seeing the easy win slip through her fingers, she could have been forgiven for crumbling. Even more so when Pliskova broke and took a 3-1 lead in the final set. It would have been perfectly natural for Potapova to dwell on what had just happened. But she did the opposite.
The world No. 56 composed herself with admirable maturity. She started playing on the front foot again, swinging freely and believing once more in the game plan that had brought her to this point. The third set was a real mental test. It was no longer just about hitting harder or finding winners. It was about surviving the setback, resetting her mind and proving that the second chance she received days earlier would not go to waste.
Potapova eventually prevailed 6-4 in the third set, sealing a stunning, career-defining victory. Because she didn’t just win against Pliskova, a former world number one. She won having already been eliminated from the tournament. She won after watching three match points slip away. She won after the momentum had swung the other way.
Madrid now has an unexpected semi-finalist and a story that will be hard to top. Anastasia Potapova entered the main draw as a lucky loser. Today, after a weekful of comebacks, she is a WTA 1000 semi-finalist for the first time in her life.
