Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia performs a forehand return to Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur throughout their girls’s singles quarter closing match on day eleven of the Roland-Garros Open tennis match on the Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris on June 7, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Beatriz Haddad Maia scored one other comeback win on the French Open, upsetting Ons Jabeur 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1 on Wednesday to turn out to be the primary Brazilian girl since 1968 to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.
The 14th-seeded Haddad Maia, who served a 10-month suspension for failing a doping check in 2019, shook off a gradual begin towards the seventh-seeded Jabeur on Court Philippe Chatrier and can subsequent face both Iga Swiatek or Coco Gauff.
After enjoying almost 4 hours to beat Sara Sorribes Tormo within the fourth spherical, Haddad Maia received solely one in every of her service video games within the first set. But she saved the one two break factors she confronted within the second set — each within the 11th recreation to go up 6-5 — and received the tiebreaker.
The 27-year-old Brazilian began the deciding set with a double break and a 3-Zero lead. A pissed off Jabeur flipped her racket within the air after sending a straightforward backhand extensive on a break-point alternative whereas down 4-1. Haddad Maia received the sport and served out the match, placing her hand on her cap nearly in disbelief after Jabeur sailed a forehand lengthy on the second match level.
“I had to be patient. She’s one of the best players in the world,” Haddad Maia mentioned on courtroom. “Not easy to play against her. She’s tricky sometimes.”
Jabeur, a Tunisian who was the runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open final yr, used drop photographs successfully early within the match however in the long run had extra unforced errors (42) than winners (38).
“I always believed that the match (would be) long,” Haddad Maia mentioned. “That was the key. I was trying to keep my game.”
Haddad Maia is the primary Brazilian girl to reach the semifinals at Roland Garros within the Open period. Maria Bueno reached the final 4 on the 1966 French Open and made the 1968 U.S. Open semifinals.
Haddad Maia’s fourth-round win over Sorribes Tormo, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-5, was the longest WTA match of the yr — clocking in a Three hours, 51 minutes.
After failing her doping check in 2019, the Brazilian participant had argued that she had merely been taking dietary supplements. The International Tennis Federation accepted Haddad Maia’s rationalization and mentioned she “bore no significant fault or negligence for her violation,” however {that a} suspension was nonetheless necessary.
The top-seeded Swiatek and sixth-seeded Gauff have been up subsequent on Chatrier — a rematch of final yr’s French Open closing received by Swiatek in straight units. The 22-year-old Swiatek has been ranked No. 1 for greater than a yr.
