Watch: Anastasia Potapova draws boos from Italian Open crowd after she beats home favorite Elisabetta Cocciaretto

Controversy erupted at the 2023 Italian Open as fans booed Russia's Anastasia Potapova after she defeated home player and fan favorite Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the second round on Thursday.

In a video posted on Twitter by journalist Diego Barbiani, Anastasia Potapova is seen gesturing to the Italian crowd to calm down after beating World No. 45 Cocciaretto 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets. The Russian's gesture provoked the crowd, the majority of whom were there to support Cocciaretto, and they started booing and whistling at the 22-year-old.

Their display of dissatisfaction grew even louder after the speaker at the Campo Pietrangeli asked the spectators to give a big round of applause for Anastasia Potapova.

The controversy came after a close match between the two players. Potapova was comfortably ahead in the game, leading Cocciaretto by a set and 5-1. However, things quickly turned around for the Italian as she fought her way back to 5-4 in the second set before eventually surrendering her serve in the ultimate game and handing Potapova her first win at the Italian Open.

Potapova had faced Cocciaretto once before, when they played in the first round of the 2022 Guadalajara Open. The Italian easily swept her opponent that day, winning the match 6-2, 6-1.

Anastasia Potapova to take on Veronika Kudermetova in the third round of the Italian Open

Anastasia Potapova takes on Veronika Kudermetova in the third round of the Italian Open

Anastasia Potapova has been in good form in 2023, securing her second WTA Tour singles title at the Linz Open. The Russian also managed to reach the semifinal of the Stuttgart Open and the quarterfinals of the Miami Open and the Lyon Open. Her impressive season features wins over top 10 players like Coco Gauff and Caroline Garcia as well.

This success on the court has helped Potapova attain her career-best ranking of World No. 24. She will be on the hunt to better that statistic at the 2023 Italian Openshe, where is through to the third round and set to face fellow Russian and World No. 13 Veronika Kudermetova.

In their last matchup, in the second round of the Madrid Open, Kudermetova and Potapova churned out a tight three-set affair that lasted over 3 hours. The former eventually won the match 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-3. Fans will be expecting a similarly tight and high-quality encounter this time around too.