At 19, the Roland Garros champion is in his fifth Grand Slam quarterfinal and 2026 was his 44th. New York was the only major that would not open for him. the third round was his best finish here until this fortnight. She spent almost nothing, beating Indonesia’s Janice Tien 6-2, 6-2, Germany’s Eva Lis 6-0, 6-2 and Czech Nikola Bartunkova 6-2, 7-6 (5) earlier on Monday.
“Okay, if he wins, at least let’s make it difficult for him.”
The turn came from the decision to stop absorption. “In the second set I just tried to be really more aggressive, really try and dictate more because I felt like she was doing it more in the first set,” Andreeva said.
“So I tried to turn it around a little bit and then also mix it up, break the rhythm a little bit because he’s a great hitter. I think he likes when the ball comes to him quickly.” The instruction she gave herself between sets was more modest than the result. “I just tried to tell myself that, well, if he’s going to win, at least let’s make it difficult for him. At least he will remember that this match was a difficult victory.”
He never had to find out. Serving at 5-3, 15-0 in the third, Potapova went down with a leg injury and appeared to be prolonging it, with Andreeva circling the net to check her. The match was over, but the finish took the edge off. “I’m pretty happy with how I stayed in the fight,” Andreeva said. “Also, it’s not a perfect ending to the match.”
The 25th-ranked Potapova advanced to the 16th spot after defeating lucky loser Daria Semenistaya of Latvia 6-2, 6-2, France’s Leolia Jeangin 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 and American No. 10 Amanda Anisimova 6-57-2.
Andreeva plays the winner of the fourth round match between 14th seed Iva Jovic of the United States and American No. 4 Coco Gauff.
