Athletistic/Tennis. Russian Anastasia Potapova performs brilliantly at a tournament in Prague. She managed to reach the final and will compete for the title. Moreover, next Monday Potapova will in any case be in the top 50 of the WTA rankings.

For Potapova, 21, 2022 can already be called the most successful year of her professional career. Recall that tennis fans have been watching Nastya closely since junior days, when at the age of 14 she reached the 1/4 finals of junior Wimbledon and lost only to future champion Sofya Zhuk. . And the next season, 2016, Potapova already reached at least the quarterfinals in all four junior “Helmets”.

This season, Anastasia won her first singles title in Istanbul, beating her compatriot Veronika Kudermetova. And after Wimbledon, missed by all Russians, Potapova accelerated and managed to reach the semifinals at three consecutive tournaments – in Lausanne, Hamburg and Prague. In addition, in the capital of the Czech Republic, to enter the top four, she managed to defeat the second racket in the world Anett Kontaveit from Estonia – 6:1, 6:1.

Commentator Anna Dmitrieva in an interview spoke highly of the potential of Potapova, who every day adds: “I am not surprised at her success, because they finally found a normal coach for her. Only this year she started working with Igor Andreev. I see and follow this “Kontaveit has the same problems, on the contrary, because she broke up with Tursunov, with whom she earned all her points – after that she stopped winning. She took her previous place: she will be somewhere in the top twenty or thirty. And Potapova works very well with Igor Andreev. Very happy for Igor. It always seemed to me that he should not only be a team coach, but also an individual coach. Can Potapova become a world star? You never need to think She is now coming out of despair. She chooses with confidence. Promising and young Anastasia. You always have to find your coach.”

Interestingly, in the grid for the tournament in Prague, in addition to Kontaveit, Russian Potapova got all three Chinese tennis players who participated in the tournament. In the first round, Anastasia beat 20-year-old Xinyu Wang in 1 hour and 5 minutes – 6: 1, 6: 2, in the second round she beat 28-year-old Lin Zhu in straight sets, and at 1 /2 finals, she met 30-year-old Wang Qiang, who made it to the base through qualifying, but was at one point the 12th-ranked racket in the world. Nastya beat her rival with the score 6:3, 6:0 in one hour.

In the final match, which will take place on Sunday, July 31, Potapova will meet Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic.

It should be added that in Prague the Russian will also play the last match in doubles – with Yana Sizikova.

Here is how Potapova’s success was rated by foreign tennis fans:

@Malaikoftaisbae:
– Can someone explain to me how Potapova managed to beat Kontaveit so easily?

@VonLeisteg:
– Anastasia is on fire!

@_ms_gold:
– Ice rink mounted on Anette.

@ivabianconero:
– It was a very confident victory.

@ Rafacharliga:
– Didn’t Anette destroy Potapova on clay last week? How come she got screwed so hard a week later?

Simon peg:
– Anette showed just a disgraceful performance, but that doesn’t detract from the merits of Anastasia, who has shown very solid tennis lately. My congratulations to her!

M.G:
– It should be noted how coldly Anette shook hands with Anastasia after the match ended. Congratulations to Anastasia Potapova! I think she will soon submit to some kind of Grand Slam tournament!

Kurileko Penko:
– Also drew attention to the handshake. I wonder if it’s because she’s Russian?

reed:
– It was some kind of market. It is impossible, being the second racquet in the world, to lose a game in just 51 minutes.

Spirit canus:
– And this plump-lipped Potapova, it turns out, is not a goof at all, is it?

Sean:
– Now she’s on the rise. Potapova has a lot of potential and should be in the top 25 at least. Kontaveit, however, simply discouraged such play.

@CanchRusificada:
– Potapova’s success lately is absolutely amazing!

@WherelsPlishy:
– Before, when I used to watch Potapova’s matches, she always looked awful, so now I’m even scared to see how fit she is.

@ficon_t:
Yes, she has improved a lot lately.

@MatterTipTennis:
– I can’t wait for Potapova to beat Buzkova in the final.

Andrei Lipatov, Sport.Ru