Only one could win in the end! The 2023 Linz winner, Anastasia Potapova, won the eagerly awaited „Austrian quarter".
Potapova got off to the much better start and took the service from Tagger right at the beginning. The 18-year-old needed a little while to shake off her initial nervousness and find her rhythm. However, she eventually managed to do so with the support of the crowd and not only did she manage the re-break, but in the end the tie-break had to decide the match. And Tagger had already come out on top twice in the tournament. This time, however, Anastasia Potapova, who is at home in Vienna, was too dominant, especially thanks to her strong backhand. After trailing 3:5, she came back strongly and ultimately converted her third set point. Potapova carried this momentum into the second set, made another quick break and was then unstoppable. Potapova's strong return, variable style of play and two-handed backhand, with which she scored 10 of her 13 direct points, were decisive in the match. „I'm very proud of my performance. Today was maybe a 7 to 8 on a scale of 10. I was very focused in the tight situations and stayed concentrated,“ Potapova summed up shortly after Tagger was given a standing ovation from centre court.
Nevertheless, the East Tyrolean can be proud of her performance, as she has beaten two world-class players this week, Paula Badosa and Liudmila Samsonova. It is no coincidence that she will be one of the top 100 tennis players in the world from Monday and will be in the main draw of the French Open. „It was a really special match. I've probably learnt more from this match than from the two I've won here,“ explained Tagger.
Potapova will play Donna Vekic in the semi-finals on Saturday (2nd match after 3.30 pm), who marched through to the final round after qualifying. In the quarter-finals, the Croatian defeated former world number one Karolina Pliskova 7:5, 6:4 and is back in the semi-finals for the first time since she won the silver medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. It's not really surprising that she managed this in Linz. She already reached the semi-finals in Upper Austria in 2024. „I didn't expect to be in the semi-finals here. I just wanted to play as many matches as possible. I love the conditions here and always enjoy my time in Linz,“ said a delighted Vekic about her success at one of her favourite tournaments.
Before that, the top seed Mirra Andreeva will face Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the first semi-final (not before 3.30 pm). Andreeva, ranked tenth in the world, had to fight for almost two and a half hours to defeat Sorana Cirstea 7:6, 4:6, 6:2. Andreeva proved to be a real champion, especially in the decisive phases, and ultimately found the right solutions. „It was a tough match from the very first point. I've been training with her this week, so I knew her game. She then played three times better in the match. She was extremely aggressive and scored a lot of direct points. I tried to stay calm and that worked very well in the third set,“ summarised Andreeva.
Ruse came from a set down to beat Jelena Ostapenko, the 2024 Linz winner, 4:6, 6:4, 6:1 in the first quarter-final of the day. In a match with a total of 13 breaks, the Romanian had to have her thigh treated in the first set but then got into her stride and was the more solid player with stronger nerves. Andreeva and Ruse met in the third round of the Australian Open earlier this year, with Andreeva winning in two sets.
