The strong wind was the protagonist in the match, which ended with a victory for the Brazilian 6-4, 3-6 and 7-5
The number 1 in the world suffered a lot with her serve due to the weather conditions
The Brazilian tennis player Beatriz Haddad Maia gave the surprise this Thursday at the Canadian Masters, which takes place in Toronto, by defeating the number 1 in the world, the Polish Iga Swiatek, in three sets, and qualify for the quarterfinals of the Canadian tournament. With her victory, Haddad becomes the first Brazilian tennis player to advance to the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 tournament. Haddad, number 24 in the world ranking, won by 6-4, 3-6 and 7-5 in a competitive match, at Toronto’s Sobeys Stadium that lasted three hours. It was the first time the two players had met.
In the first set, the Pole had many problems with her serve due to the strong gusts of wind that occurred throughout the day on the center court of the tournament. Meanwhile, the Brazilian seemed to adapt better to the difficult weather conditions. Swiatek committed four double faults in the first set to none from Haddad. In addition, the Polish only reached a percentage of points with the first service of 61% while the Brazilian reached 80%. In the seventh game, Haddad broke Swiatek’s serve and took the set 6-4.
In the second set, the Pole continued to have problems with her serve. She committed three double faults, but managed to improve her statistics of points won with the first and, especially, the second serve, which with the strong wind became a determining factor. While Swiatek won 53% of the points played on her second serve, Haddad managed only 33%, allowing the Pole to win the second set 6-3.
In the final set, the two players committed the same number of direct service points, 3. But again, the second serve was decisive in a match marked by strong gusts of wind. The world number 1 only managed to win 23.5% of the points served with the second serve, while Haddad managed 53%. Although Swiatek initially broke Haddad’s serve, the Brazilian answered with two consecutive breaks, making the score 4-2. The Pole equalized 4-4 but Haddad took advantage of Swiatek’s weak second serve to win the third and final set 7-5.