A week ago, Anastasia Potapova lost in the qualifying round of the Mutua Madrid Open to Sinja Kraus, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3. Normally, she would have packed her bags the next day and headed to her next tournament. However, something happened that nobody, least of all Potapova, expected. The Austrian is still competing in the Caja Magica, and she is doing so in style. On Monday night she defeated Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, the world number two and the pretender to Aryna Sabalenka’s throne.

Potapova’s story is one of those tales tennis occasionally delights us with. One of players who lose in the final qualifying round, but enter the main draw as a lucky loser due to another player’s withdrawal, and end up going deep into the draw.

“It’s a great win for me. Rybakina is the Australian Open champion, she’s number two in the WTA, one of the best players at the moment”, Potapova said on Monday night after beating Rybakina (7-6 (10-8), 6-4) in the Manolo Santana Stadium. “Of course, I’m very excited about this win, but I don’t want to stop here. I want to keep progressing and get closer in the future to players of this calibre”, added the first woman in history to reach the quarter-finals of the Madrid WTA 1000 as a lucky loser.

Ranked number 56 in the world at 25 years of age, Potapova put in a stunning performance against Rybakina. She was aggressive, soaked up the pressure and managed to frustrate the world number two. The tie-break in the first set was a thriller, with both Potapova and Rybakina producing some astonishing tennis. The last point of that set was one of the moments of the tournament.

“I don’t know how I did it. In that moment, you shouldn’t think about what to do, you just do it. And that’s what I did. I’m very happy with what I’ve achieved”, Potapova said in reference to that nail-biting point in the Manolo Santana Stadium.

The Austrian, who has now almost secured her return to the top 50, will face Czech player Karolina Pliskova in the quarter-finals on Wednesday. The winner will play against whoever triumphs in the Marta Kostyuk-Linda Noskova match. The draw is wide open, and Potapova has a golden opportunity to keep writing new chapters in her remarkable story.