• Published on 05/09/2024 – 16:18 • Rome (Italy)
Bia Haddad Maia, number 13 in the world, was not at his best this Thursday (9). The tennis player, however, fought hard and turned the match around in her debut in Rome, Italy, WTA 1000 tournament.
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The São Paulo native, number 1 in the country, defeated the Chinese Xinyu Wang, ranked 42nd in the world, by 2 sets to 1, with a score of 4/6 6/3 6/4. The match lasted 2h15min and took place on court 1 of Foro Itálico.
The Brazilian, who reached the quarterfinals last year, secured her place in the third round and will face the American Madison Keys, 16th placed. The opponent comes from a semi-final on clay in Madrid, Spain. Keys, who beat Colombian Camila Osorio 6/0 4/6 6/3, faced the Brazilian once on the circuit, at the end of 2023, at the Elite Trophy, in Zhuhai, China, with Bia Haddad winning.
Bia started the game badly, was broken in the first game and with many mistakes she was unable to react. Wang scored 6/4 and opened a break in the second set. Haddad Maia went 2-1 up, but was broken again and found herself 3-2 down. However, Bia started to wear more “shorts” given the heavy conditions on the court due to the rain that fell earlier in the day. The tactic worked, Bia broke twice in a row and closed 6/3. In the third set, the Brazilian opened 3-1, allowed the draw, but broke it again by pressing for the return. She held the serve for the hard-fought 6/4 victory.
