French Open: Who is Anastasia Potapova?

Anastasia Potapova pulled off an upset against Angelique Kerber on Sunday by beating the German 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of French Open.

Anastasia Potapova celebrates after defeating Angelique Kerber in the first round of French Open.

Anastasia Potapova, just 18 years old, knocked out three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber in the first round of the French Open on Sunday, marking the biggest win of the Russia’s career so far.

Potapova is one of a set of teenagers rising through the ranks on the WTA Tour alongside Americans Amanda Anisimova and Cori Gauff, Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, Canadian Bianca Andreescu and Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.

At the age of 15, the Russian won the 2016 Wimbledon girls’ single title, defeating Yastremska in the final.

A year later, Potapova was handed a wildcard to the Wimbledon qualifying tournament, where she won all three of her matches to reach the main draw. However, she retired during her first-round match against Tatiana Maria because of injury. The same year, she won her only single title till date – the ITF tournament in Curitiba, Brazil, beating Anisimova in the final.

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In 2018, Potapova had her first WTA main draw win in a rematch with Maria at St. Petersburg.

At the Australian Open this year, Potapova won her first Grand Slam match, against Pauline Parmentier, but was then ousted by 17th seed Madison Keys in the second round.

Currently ranked 81st in the world, Potapova had reached a career high of 70 in April.