Potapova fought through frustrations with help from boyfriend and fellow player Tallon Greikspoor, who could be heard shouting encouragement from the stands.
“I think he has bright future in coaching,” she teased. “The things he can say, like I don’t think anyone can say that during the match, because he isn’t afraid. Like, he’s not scared of me. He can tell me literally like anything.
“He just told me to shut up, to keep on working, to start working with my legs, and that we are both here together in this match, I’m not just by myself. It just happened at the such important moment, and it gave me a lot of energy.”
In a week of second chances, Potapova found one more to reel off the final five games of the match, clinching a result that is projected to return her to the world’s Top 40, having dropped to a low of No. 97 earlier this month.
“I do think it’s a miracle,” said Potapova, who finished runner-up at her adopted home tournament in Linz prior to Madrid. “It’s pretty rare when you get the second chance and that you go almost all the way until the end.”
In a relatively open draw—only No. 9 seed Mirra Andreeva has won a WTA 1000 title of the players remaining—Potapova will await the winner of No. 13 seed Linda Noskova and No. 26 seed Linda Noskova for the chance to be in Madrid long enough to reach the biggest final of her career.
