Ella Seidel had previously beaten two much better-placed opponents. But the top-seeded opponent was too strong.
Tennis player Ella Seidel has missed out on the first semi-final of her career on the WTA Tour. The 19-year-old from Hamburg was defeated 2-6, 3-6 by top-seeded Russian Anastasia Potapova in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Seidel, ranked 143rd in the world, had previously beaten the much better-ranked Jaqueline Cristian (Romania/No. 8) and Anna Blinkova from Russia at the $275,094 indoor tournament.
Seidel will climb in the WTA rankings by reaching the quarterfinals. Her previous best ranking was 117th. Before the tournament in Cluj-Napoca, Seidel had only won two matches in the main draw at the lower-tier ITF level this season.
She did not get past the qualification for the Australian Open.
