I'm pleased Jo came through, but I do admire Potapova's fighting spirit. Shame for her, but a big win for Jo, and hopefully she can make another final now.
She got a bit lucky on the match point at 3-5* which Potapova should have buried, but credit to her for digging in and finishing the job. The ace at *6-7 in the tiebreak after Popatova had played three stunning points from *6-4 was fantastic.
Hopefully the sort of gritty comeback win she needs to get into the next gear.
SF: KONTA, Johanna (GBR) 2 16 v BOUZKOVA, Marie (CZE) 57 CH=53 12/8/19
This will be the first time Jo & Marie have faced each other.
Great win for Jo over Potapova. There was some high quality play from both players and to come through a tough 3 set match is encouraging. Let's just hope the knee can stand it.
Bouzkova could well require another step up in level. She's looked pretty consistent this week.
This is only the 2nd outdoor hard court tournament Jo has won 3 singles matches in since Miami 2017. Happy though when the players one supports survives match points. I wonder if players such as Jo spend as much time calculating and worrying about points dropping off from the previous year.She might find points dropping off from Rome because its hard to imagine at the moment it being held or anyone wanting to risk playing there.
I was surprised to see Rus beat Peterson 6-1 6-1 in the early hours in the 4th QF, Andy Parker will be pleased .
I'd like to see the top 2 seeds make the final. That's the best match on paper, and both have had tough starts to 2020, and are a long way off where they were when they met in the USO QF, so a final could really kick start both of their seasons.
Looks like Jo is first on at 8pm UK, and then Svitolina's match is 3rd, following a men's match.