ADVERTISEMENT
No. 1 seed Anastasia Potapova has been through to the semifinal of the WTA 250 tournament in Cluj-Napoca after ousting qualifier Ella Seidel 6-2 6-3.
Right from the start, the Russian imposed her game and went 3-0 up early.
But then, she suffered a slight collapse and allowed the 143rd-ranked German to get the break back and reduce the deficit to 2-3.
However, it didn't take long before Potapova regained full control as the No. 1 seed responded with back-to-back breaks in the sixth and eighth games to still routinely win the first set.
Just as she started the opener, the Russian tennis star also won the opening three games of the second set.
In the sixth game, the top seed missed out on three break points and a chance to go up by a double break but also saved a break point in the following game to go 5-2 up.
ADVERTISEMENT
Serving to stay in the match, Seidel saved a match point in the eighth game but it didn't change much since Potapova converted her second match point on her own serve in the following game.
Potapova set to meet lucky loser Aliaksandra Sasnovich for a place in the Cluj-Napoca final
When the Russian and the Belarusian tennis player Sasnovich meet on Saturday, it will be their first meeting in six years.
At the start of the 2019 season, Sasnovich beat the current world No. 32 6-4 7-5 in the Brisbane International first round.
However, a lot has changed since then as Potapova is a two-time WTA champion and has been ranked as high as No. 21 in the world, while the 128th-ranked Belarusian hasn't yet won any titles.
While Sasnovich has managed to win three matches since entering the Cluj-Napoca main draw as a lucky loser, there is no doubt that the top-seeded Russian enters their match as the favorite to win.
