Potapova rallies past Gauff, moves into Miami’s last 16

Russian Anastasia Potapova, the No 27 seed, rallied from the brink to defeat sixth-seeded American Coco Gauff to move into the last 16 of the Miami Open at the Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday evening.

Gauff had control of things late in the second, holding a 5-3 lead, but Potapova dug in a staged a rousing comeback to dash the American’s hopes, 6-7 (8), 7-5, 6-2.

How did the 21-year-old, who trailed Gauff 2-0 in their head-to-head prior to Saturday’s showdown, manage to come back?

“Seriously, I have no idea how,” she told the crowd on court after the two hour and 42-minute battle. “I think I just let it go and I started to focus on my tennis and going for my shots, not thinking what she is going to do.”

Potapova, ranked No 26, will play Chinese Qinwen Zheng, the No 23 seed, next. It has been an impressive 2023 campaign thus for for Potapova – this year’s Linz champion records her third career top 10 win and improves to an impressive 12-5 on the season.

“I’m really happy to be in the fourth round for the first time – it’s the dream that really came true,” the 21-year-old said.

The 21-year-old Russian beat Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk (6-1, 6-3) ahead of her victory.

In the previous round of the Miami tournament, Gauff, ranked No 6, won against Canadian Rebecca Marino (6-4, 6-3).

Miami WTA 1000, other third-round results (Hard Rock Stadium, hard, USD 8.800.000, most recent results first):

• Elena Rybakina vs. Paula Badosa
• Marie Bouzkova vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• Barbora Krejcikova vs. Madison Keys
• Karolina Pliskova vs. Marketa Vondrousova
• Sorana Cirstea vs. Karolina Muchova
• Magdalena Frech vs. Varvara Gracheva
• Petra Kvitova vs. Donna Vekic
• Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Belinda Bencic
• Bianca Andreescu vs. Sofia Kenin
• Petra Martic vs. Elise Mertens
• Jessica Pegula vs. Danielle Collins
• Claire Liu vs. Martina Trevisan
• Magda Linette vs. Victoria Azarenka: saturday
• Qinwen Zheng beat Liudmila Samsonova (12): 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3
• Jelena Ostapenko (24) beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (13): 6-2, 4-6, 6-3

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