New York (AFP) – Fifth-seeded French Open champion Mirra Andreeva of Russia edged Anastasia Potapova in three sets Monday to reach the US Open quarter-finals for the first time. Andreeva defeated Potapova 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, overcoming a slow start and responding sportingly after Potapova took a nasty late-match spill.
In a dramatic final game, Potapova, who had upset 2025 US Open finalist Amanda Anisimova in the prior round, lost her footing leaning for a shot, falling to the ground and writhing in pain. Andreeva, who later called Potapova “a pretty good friend,” rushed over and helped assist Potapova to the side of the court where she received treatment on her left knee during a medical timeout. She returned to the court to finish the game, the two women embracing after Andreeva floated a backhand winner down the line to close the match.
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“It’s not the way obviously you want to finish the match and you want to see one of your good friends finish the match,” Andreeva said afterwards. “I’m sure she’s going to come back stronger.”
Andreeva dropped the first set after committing more than twice as many unforced errors as Potapova, who was also born in Russia but now plays for Austria. But the 19-year-old Grand Slam champion steadied herself while also shifting strategy, throwing in more off-pace shots to keep Potapova off balance.
“I feel like she likes when the ball comes fast to her, because she handles it pretty well,” Andreeva said of Potapova. “I just tried to, I don’t know, have a mix of being aggressive, but at the same time, breaking the rhythm, and I felt like that worked.”
Andreeva has looked up to Potapova, 25, as “like, a little star,” rooting for Potapova when she won the junior Wimbledon title in 2016. The two practice together and “have a good connection on the court,” said Andreeva who is still adjusting to life as Grand Slam champion.
In the first tournaments after the Paris, Andreeva would get nervous in key moments, feeling like “every match that I play I have to win,” Andreeva said. Andreeva’s second-round loss at Wimbledon was followed by middling results in the US Open warmup tournaments. She came to New York with low expectations — but a different approach.
After discussing with her psychologist, Andreeva decided to downplay the Roland Garros win, telling herself “it was another tournament,” a solution that has worked so far through four rounds in New York. “So I’m just trying to, like, forget that it was a Grand Slam, trying not to think about it, not overthink, as well, and just kind of, I don’t know, let it go easy, not to think about it, chill, enjoy,” Andreeva said.
Andreeva will next play either fourth-seeded Coco Gauff or 14th-seeded Iva Jovic. The two Americans face each other later Monday.
© 2024 AFP
