MADRID – Overcome with emotion, Anastasia Potapova fell to her knees, her hands covering her face, as tears began to flow.

This emotional release followed her historic achievement at the Madrid Open, where the Austrian, ranked 56th, became the first “lucky loser” to advance to a WTA 1000 semifinal. She secured her spot by overcoming Karolina Pliskova in a 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3 victory on Wednesday.

Potapova’s path to victory was fraught with challenges, as she nearly let the win slip away. She lost three match points in the second set and had to rally from a 1-3 deficit in the final set.

Reflecting on her tumultuous match, the 25-year-old remarked, “I had a few match points in the second set while serving, but my nerves got the best of me. This tournament seems to be offering me second chances, and I’m making the most of them. I couldn’t be happier.”

Potapova, originally from Russia, revealed that her spirits were significantly lifted by the arrival of her boyfriend, Dutch player Tallon Griekspoor, who came to support her from the stands.

“I was mentally drained in the third set and had lost faith in myself,” she admitted. “But my boyfriend deserves immense credit for arriving just in time. His encouragement, telling me, ‘You can do this, we’re all in this together, keep pushing,’ was exactly what I needed.”

Potapova said Griekspoor is “not scared” of telling her anything and deserved some credit for her victory.

“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 will face either Linda Noskova or Marta Kostyuk for a spot in the final.

Potapova got into the main draw as a lucky loser despite losing her second qualifying match in Madrid. She became the first lucky loser to reach a WTA 1000 or Tier I semifinal since the Tier format’s inception in 1990, according to the WTA.

Potapova went on to win four straight matches, including against world No. 2 Elena Rybakina in the round of 16.

“To be honest, 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. “And then the days kept on going and nobody was injured or pulling out. Then the last moment I got the information, literally 30 minutes before the match, that I was given a chance to step on court here again.”

She said she had been just enjoying “some nice days” in the Spanish capital, with no expectations.

“Maybe that’s the key, you don’t need to be always so zoomed in and so locked in on the tournament,” Potapova said. “Maybe it’s just a matter of sometimes just enjoy yourself and enjoy the journey, and maybe that’s how the results can also come.”

She said it feels like “a miracle” to have made it all the way to the semifinals.

“It’s pretty rare when you get the second chance and that you go almost all the way until the end,” Potapova said. “But also at the same time I always say, if you got it, maybe you deserved it. So I did work hard. Also, you know, anyone can get a second chance, but how many of those will actually take it? So I’m happy that I didn’t waste it, and I was able to convert it and to be here now.”

___

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis