The Brazilian Bia Haddad, 26, lifted, this Sunday (19), her second trophy in two weeks. With the victory at the WTA 250 in Birmingham, England, the tennis player went from 32nd position in the rankings to 29th. Beatriz Haddad Maia thus achieves the best placement of a Brazilian since Maria Esther Bueno, who occupied the same place in 1976.
It’s a considerable achievement for someone who started the year 83rd in the world rankings.
The title is the second in singles of his career. Last Sunday (12), she had won the WTA Nottingham, also in England. In the same tournament, she also won in the doubles category, reaching her fourth achievement in the modality, accompanied by her opponent in Birmingham, China’s Shuai Zhang.
They had to play two matches on Sunday (19). Rainy weather prevented the semifinals on Saturday (18). Before facing Zang, Bia faced Simona Halep, 30, from Romania, 2019 Wimbledon champion and former No. /4.
In the next match, Bia found her opponent Zhang tired. The Chinese withdrew from the final with just 36 minutes left, still in the first set, which Haddad was winning by 5-4. She abandoned the game with complaints of neck pain.
“The title didn’t come the way I would have liked, with Shuai withdrawing from the match and everything. Likewise, I also played for three hours beforehand, so we were both tired,” said the Brazilian.
Bia reserved an emotional speech for the opponent and game partner. “You showed me, ‘Why not?’ We can have friends on tour. You are a great tennis player and a special person. Tennis is something that passes, but the human side never will, so congratulations on the person you are,” she said.
The paulistana seems to finally find momentum after spending 2019 and 2020 suspended for doping. She was removed from the courts in July 2019. And so she remained for ten months, until May 22, 2020. During this period, Bia was able to prove that she was a victim of cross-contamination in the manipulation of pharmacy vitamins. “It went from heaven to hell”, she reported on the podcast A Voz do Tênis.
“Before the news [de doping], people came to talk to me and asked to take a picture. Days later, the view was completely different. That feeling of doubt started. People hesitated, looked at me out of the corner of their eye and took a step back,” he said on the podcast.
The release to return came in the midst of the suspension of tournaments due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “If it wasn’t for the pandemic, I would be getting ready to play in Europe.”
Even with the return, Bia spent 2020 and 2021 without major achievements.
In 2022, despite starting far off in the WTA rankings, Bia reached the Australian Open doubles final in January, played on hard court. She was consecrated as the third Brazilian in a Grand Slam final.
The clay courts, however, were not so generous with the Brazilian. She was eliminated in the second round of this year’s edition of Roland Garros in Paris by veteran Estonian Kaia Kanepi, a 37-year-old former 15th place finisher. Kanepi cleared Bia out of the tournament with two sets to zero in less than two hours. “I couldn’t compete and be humble in difficult times,” she said at the end of the game.
On the grass, Bia is triumphing. The two trophies won by the tennis player are part of the season on the most traditional court in tennis, which will culminate and end at the Wimbledon tournament, one of the Grand Slams on the circuit that begins on June 27 in London.
The trophy in Birmingham broke the fast of Brazilian women on grass. Since Maria Esther Bueno’s title, in 1968, in Manchester, an athlete from the country has not won a championship on this type of floor.
The victory in Birmingham secured Bia as the seed in the Grand Slam. Thus, she avoids taking the top 8 of the ranking right away.
Before that, she plays in the WTA Eastbourne, also in England, where she debuts on Tuesday (20) against veteran Estonian Kaia Kanepi, precisely responsible for the early elimination of the Brazilian in the second round of Roland Garros.
Now, however, there are ten straight victories for Bia on the green floor. And the success on English grass raises expectations that the Brazilian will be a promise for the championship.
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