Emerging WTA player Anastasia Potapova responded to the critics of some of her followers who think she would be a better fit in the modeling world than on the tennis court.
“They often write to me: ‘Give up tennis. Why are you still playing? Go modeling!’ Why should I be bothered? It’s nice, in a way. It doesn’t bother me that they tell me to become a model, not at all,” said Anastasia Potapova in a podcast posted on YouTube, as quoted by ziare.com.
Potapova is currently the WTA world number 44. She recently made it to the semifinals of the Transylvania Open, where she was stopped by Anna Blinkova, the winner of the WTA 250 event held in Cluj-Napoca.
How Blinkova beat Potapova
Blinkova, who qualified for the main draw, recovered a set down to win, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in 2 hours and 25 minutes. Post-match, Blinkova shared: “The match was very tough, and (Potapova is) a great player, and it was a very mental victory.
I cannot even describe how I’m feeling. But I’m so happy to be here in Cluj until the end, I love it here so much, and I’m so happy to be in the final. I tried to stay mentally strong and as aggressive as I can as well, and I tried to be courageous, and it helped me to win.”
Since she is Russian, Potapova had a black circle on the scoring board during her matches played at Transylvania.
Potapova lost a title this year
This summer, tennis pro Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic couldn’t contain her joy when she won her first WTA title in Prague, describing it as a “dream come true.” In the Prague final, Bouzkova, 24, defeated Anastasia Potapova of Russia 6-0, 6-3.
Bouzkova had never won a WTA final until Prague. But on Sunday, she gave a strong effort and denied Potapova a chance.
“It’s a dream for me to win my first title here at home,” Bouzkova said after winning Prague, per the WTA website.
“I just couldn’t be happier. It’s a dream come true and I enjoyed playing in front of the home crowd so much.”