Anastasia Potapova was forced to release a statement after being accused of waving goodbye to Amanda Anisimova. The No. 24 seed stunned last year’s finalist in the third round, claiming a hard-fought 6-2 7-5 victory to reach the second week of the US Open for the first time.
It was a disappointing defeat for Anisimova, who will now drop out of the world’s top 10. After the match, Potapova headed back to her bench and waved goodbye towards the tunnel as Anisimova was making her exit, leading some to suggest she was taunting the No. 10 seed.
Potapova explains her wave
But the Russian-born Austrian has now explained that she was simply saying bye to a friend in the crowd.
“I see sooo many questions about my bye wave after the match. You just wanna make a circus out of everything,” Potapova wrote, adding a crying-laughing emoji. “I waved to my friend, who’s been sitting there and supporting me. Just be easier guys, but I guess haters gonna hate.”
Match details and next opponent
The 24th seed stormed through the opening set before Anisimova stepped it up. Potapova was broken when serving for the match at the first time of asking, but immediately regained the break advantage, and successfully closed it out on the second attempt.
After reaching the last 16, Potapova admitted it was difficult to follow her game plan against Anisimova because it was so different to her usual style. But it paid off.
“Well, to be honest, we had tactics before the match, which don’t match my game, so it already was not easy,” she said. “But the way I managed to use the tactics, I think it’s one of the best games that I’ve ever had.
“It just takes all the past years that I’ve been on tour, all the matches that I’ve played, to learn from that. The people who also help me to understand some things. And maturity really plays a big role in becoming better and better.”
Anisimova’s ranking and form
Potapova will now face No. 5 seed and Roland Garros champion Mirra Andreeva as she hunts a place in a maiden Grand Slam quarter-final. As for Anisimova, the American is due to fall out of the world’s top 10 for the first time since last July.
Last summer, she reached back-to-back Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open. But since losing in the Aussie Open quarter-finals in January, Anisimova has suffered three successive third-round defeats at the Majors.
However, the current world No. 10 battled a wrist injury in the spring and spent two months sidelined, returning to competition immediately at Roland Garros.
