Anastasia Potapova praises boyfriend Tallon Griekspoor after winning Madrid QF | ATP Tour
Potapova praises Griekspoor boyfriend after Madrid’s QF win: ‘He saved me at the right time!’
The Dutch ATP Tour star was on court in the closing stages of Potapova’s victory
April 29, 2026
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images and Mutua Madrid Open
Anastasia Potapova and Tallon Griekspoor at the 2026 Mutua Madrid Open.
By ATP staff
Tallon Griekspoor may have failed to beat the two-man field on Wednesday afternoon at the Mutua Madrid Open, but it wasn’t long before the Dutchman was involved in an important victory elsewhere at Caja Magica.
Anastasia Potapova, the number 56 player in the PIF WTA Rankings, was locked in a third-set battle with Karolina Pliskova just as her Griekspoor’s hopes ended. Shortly after Luke Johnson and Jan Zielinski defeated Griekspoor and teammate Brandon Nakashima 6-2, 4-6, 10-3 at Stadium 3, the Dutch player appeared in Potapova’s box ready to support her pursuit of a maiden semi-final appearance at the WTA 1000 event.
Potapova was down two games at the start of the third set against Pliskova but continued to play five games in a row to win 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in the quarter-finals. The 25-year-old was quick to praise Griekspoor’s arrival as a key factor in his comeback.
“To be honest, I was mentally lost in the third set,” Potapova said. “I wasn’t confident at that time. I’m starting to say it, but a lot of respect to my boyfriend who came on time. He saved me at the right time. He kept telling me, ‘You can do this. We’re all here. Just keep going. If I can say, I think in the third set it was a lot of work for him to win this. I just played and he kept me in mind.”
Potapova will be hoping that Griekspoor, the No. 33 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, can provide more motivation on court in Madrid as she bids to reach the biggest tournament match of her career. The Austrian will face either Marta Kostyuk or Linda Noskova in the semi-finals on Thursday in the Spanish capital.
“I think he has a bright future in training, we knew it before this match,” Potapova added when asked about Griekspoor in a press conference after the match. “Like I said, he came in time to save me. The support he has is unbelievable. He believes a lot. The things he can say, I don’t think you can say anything during the game, because he’s not afraid. He doesn’t scare me. He can tell me anything really.
Potapova explained that Griekspoor persuaded her to continue working, especially with her legs in the points: “And that we are both there together in this game, I’m not the only one. It happened at such an important time, and it gave me a lot of strength. I mean, mentally, I think he got this game. I did it physically. He did it mentally. So it’s good.”
