Anastasia Potapova has rejected criticism surrounding her post match “bye” wave following her victory over Amanda Anisimova, explaining that the gesture was meant for a friend in the crowd. The Austrian secured her place in the fourth round of the US Open, where she will meet fifth seed Mirra Andreeva.Potapova, the 24th seed, defeated American 10th seed Amanda Anisimova 6 2, 7 5 on Saturday to advance to the fourth round in New York for the first time in her career.After the match, Potapova appeared to wave in Anisimova’s direction while celebrating her win. The gesture led some social media users to believe that she was saying “bye bye” to her opponent in a dismissive manner. The incident soon attracted attention online, overshadowing what was otherwise an impressive victory for the Austrian.Potapova later addressed the reaction through Instagram and explained that her wave was actually directed towards a friend who had been supporting her from the stands.“I see sooo many questions about my bye wave after the match. You just wanna make a circus out of everything. I waved to my friend, who’s been sitting there and supporting me. Just be easier guys, but I guess haters gonna hate,” Potapova wrote.The 25 year old had plenty of reason to be pleased with her performance against Anisimova. She made an early breakthrough in the opening set and quickly moved to a 6 2 advantage, while the American struggled to maintain consistency during the rallies.Anisimova made the second set much more competitive and managed to take the lead twice after breaking Potapova’s serve. However, Potapova recovered each time and secured another break towards the end of the set before serving for the match.The Austrian also showed strong resilience under pressure, saving 13 of the 16 break points she faced. Anisimova, meanwhile, committed 46 unforced errors during the match, which helped Potapova close out the contest and book her place in the next round.