(September 7, 2026) FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY – French Open champion Mirra Andreeva is in the quarterfinals of the US Open for the first time. The Russian defeated Austria’s Anastasia Potapova 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 on Monday.
Towards the end of the match, the Austrian appeared to have hyperextended her knee.
“It’s not the perfect end to the match,” Andreeva said. I mean, for sure it was not an easy match. I know Nastya for a very long time, and we always have great battles against each other. Yeah, I’m pretty happy with how I stayed in the fight.
Andreeva was leading 5-3 in the final set when Potapova lunged to hit a running forehand and went down holding her left knee. Andreeva came from the other side of the net, rested her hand on her opponent’s shoulder, and helped her to the bench.
“I felt like in the first set, I still kind of had my opportunities a little bit here and there. I don’t know. In the beginning, I felt like, you know, the wind and the shade from the roof, I just felt a little bit off. And then, you know, she played great, as well.
“So the first set went in her favor, but in the second set, I just tried to really be more aggressive, to really try and dictate more, because I felt she was the one doing it more in the first set.
“So I tried to turn it around a little bit and then also to mix it up, break the rhythm a little bit as well, because she’s a great hitter. I feel like she likes when the ball comes fast to her, because she handles it pretty well.
“I just tried to, I don’t know, have a mix of being aggressive, but at the same time, breaking the rhythm, and I felt like that worked.”
Andreeva will play the winner of the match between No. 4 Coco Gauff and No. 14 Iva Jovic in the quarterfinals.
On her possible opponents: “Well, I mean, I think we all know that Coco is a great fighter, so I feel like not one point is going to be easy if I play her,” she said.
“So, you know, no matter what’s going to happen, the match is going to be tough. And, I mean, I think she’s now also improving even more. You know, her serve is better.
“I feel like she tries to — I was watching a little bit of how she was playing earlier in the tournament. I felt like she was trying to go into the net a little bit more, you know, trying to be more aggressive.
“So of course, I mean, it’s not going to be easy if I play her. Also, you know, with the home crowd, of course it’s going to be a tough match.
“So if she wins, we’ll also try to prepare our best to, you know, to show a good level of tennis and for me to try to, you know, play my best and hopefully, you know, get the result that I want.”
More to follow…
