Bia Haddad from São Paulo won her first WTA 250 singles title in her career. The Brazilian lifted the trophy after defeating American Alison Riske, this Sunday (12), in the final of the tournament held in Nottingham, England.
Bia, who started the journey in 48th place in the women’s world ranking, recovered from a break in the third set to defeat the 40th place by 2 sets to 1 (6/4, 1/6 and 6/3). With the victory, the Brazilian will enter for the first time in the Top 40 of the WTA, in the next update of the list.
In the quarterfinals, the high point of the campaign in Nottingham, the Brazilian defeated the Greek Maria Sakkari, number 5 in the WTA singles ranking. It was Bia’s fifth consecutive victory against tennis players among the top five in the world.
On its official website, the organization highlighted the fact that Bia became the first Brazilian woman to reach a singles final on grass since Maria Esther Bueno was runner-up at Chestnut Hill in 1968.
By winning this Sunday’s final, Bia broke a 54-year fast without Brazilian women’s titles on this type of floor, since Maria Esther’s last professional conquest, in Manchester, also in 1968.
Prior to that weekend, Bia had reached a WTA 250 final five years ago in a hard court competition in Seoul, South Korea, where she took second place.
“It’s crazy, I never thought my first title would be on grass. I’m very happy to win this victory. England will definitely stay in my heart. I spent more time on grass than ever this week. In Brazil we play more on clay. and hard courts,” said Bia.
The organization also highlighted the great season of the 26-year-old from São Paulo. In May, Bia had already won her first WTA 125 tournament, in Saint-Malo, and reached the final in Paris, in the same category, when she entered the Top 50 for the first time.
This was also the first Brazilian title on the women’s singles circuit since Teliana Pereira triumphed in Florianópolis in 2015.
In addition to Teliana and, now, Bia, only Maria Esther and Niege Dias had won titles in the first tier of the world circuit.
After the singles final, Bia still enters the court this Sunday to decide the doubles title, alongside Chinese Zhang Shuai. They face American Caroline Dolehide and Romanian Monica Niculescu in the final.
After the competition in Nottingham, Bia will try to confirm the good phase in a Grand Slam tournament, in Wimbledon. The competition is scheduled to take place between June 27 and July 10.
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