Austria rejoices: Potapova also in the round of 16

After Lilli Tagger, Anastasia Potapova is the second Austrian woman to reach the round of 16 at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz. The last time this happened was in 2007, when Tamira Paszek and Yvonne Meusburger reached the last 16. Potapova celebrated an emotional victory in her first singles match as an Austrian in Linz, winning 6:4, 6:4 against Zhang Shuai. „I'm shaking so much right now. I haven't been this nervous before a match for a long time. Thank you all, it wasn't easy today. I really felt some pressure. I'm so happy that I can play for Austria,“ said a delighted Potapova after her well-deserved place in the round of 16. The 25-year-old still saw room for improvement in terms of her game, but perhaps there will be time for that as the tournament progresses. The 2023 Linz winner will face German qualifier Tamara Korpatsch on Thursday.

Top seed Mirra Andreeva left nothing to be desired in her opening match, winning 6:4 and 6:2 against Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open winner. „It was a difficult match. She's a Grand Slam champion with a huge amount of experience. I'm just happy that I won. I wasn't really in my rhythm yet, but this was my first match on clay. It's so important to get these matches,“ summarised Andreeva, who served record-breaking fast. Her fastest serve of the match was measured at an impressive 199 km/h. Andreeva will play Sorana Cirstea in the quarter-finals. The Romanian benefited from the withdrawal of Hungary's Dalma Galfi due to injury, who was struggling with an abdominal muscle strain.​

Jelena Ostapenko has also already booked her quarter-final ticket. The 2024 Linz winner ended Alexandra Eala's journey in Linz after 1:43 hours with a 6:4, 7:5 win. „This year I'm beating players I've never won against before. So I'm on a great path! I was also very happy that this tournament is now taking place on clay. I love it,“ Ostapenko was visibly relieved after her opening victory.

On Friday, the Latvian 2017 French Open winner will now face Elena-Gabriela Ruse (Romania), who needed just under two and a half hours to defeat last year's finalist Dayana Yastremska 4:6, 6:4, 6:4 in her first match on Wednesday.

Tagger meets Samsonova in the round of 16

Lilli Tagger will play again on Thursday at the Design Centre. The East Tyrolean won't play until 4 pm (live on ORF1) against third seed Liudmila Samsonova. In the duel between two former tournament winners, Karolina Pliskova from the Czech Republic, who already triumphed at the Design Centre in 2014, will not play defending champion Ekaterina Alexandrova until 6 pm.