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Anastasia Potapova is proving herself to be a contender at the 2023 Miami Open. The athlete is through to the fourth round of the tournament with an impressive win over No. 6 seed Coco Gauff.
Potapova and Gauff engaged in a high-quality battle at the Hard Rock Stadium, with both players taking turns in dropping their leads. After all the twists and turns, the Russian tennis player prevailed against the American home favorite in three sets 6-7 (8), 7-5, 6-2.
After the match, Potapova opened up about being a 'dog mom' and remarked that her toy poodle “Baby” has had a positive influence on her career. She called her pet her “lucky charm.”
“I am a dog mom, yeah. I have a toy poodle. It’s a girl and she’s like my lucky charm. Cause as soon as I got her, I started playing better, getting higher in the rankings,” she said in coversation with Tennis Channel's Prakash Amritraj.
The 21-year-old also revealed that Baby accompanied her on tour for the first time at the 2022 Istanbul Cup, when she won her maiden WTA title.
“And the first time I took her on tour, I won my first title. Yeah, it’s unbelievable,” she said.
Anastasia Potapova, however, is contesting the Miami Open sans her pet toy poodle. Nonetheless, the Russian declared that Baby will be accompanying her throughout the upcoming clay season.
“Unfortunately I couldn’t bring her here cause I was coming from Dubai and there is the rules in the country – you cannot bring your dogs to Dubai. But I promise, [during] the clay swing, she’s gonna be with me everywhere, cause I really miss her. She’s a very fun dog,” she laughed.
Potapova, who lifted her second WTA trophy at the Linz Open this year, will look to make her best effort to add another trophy by triumphing in Miami. She commenced her campaign with a win over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk and now, for a spot in the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 event, she is set for a clash against China’s Qinwen Zheng.
"There was not any political intention in this shirt" – Anastasia Potapova speaks up following Indian Wells controversy
While Anastasia Potapova is trying her best to focus on her tennis, the player recently landed herself in controversy at the 2023 Indian Wells.
Potapova rubbed the tennis world the wrong way by donning the jersey of Russian soccer team Spartak Moscow amidst the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The World No. 26 was later given a formal warning by the WTA, but she clarified that her actions were not politically influenced.
"There was not any political intention in this shirt. I'm just a super fan of Spartak since I was 10 years old. My dad built part of the stadium for this team so it’s in our family. I'm good friends with them. I was very surprised because there was no bad intention in this," the Russian said.
