Roland-Garros: Haddad Maia fights back to stun Jabeur and reach a maiden semi-final in Paris

Beatriz Haddad Maia came back from a set down for the third time in a row to beat Ons Jabeur and reach the last four of Roland-Garros, overcoming the Tunisian 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1.

Remarkably, the Brazilian had never previously gone beyond the second round of a Grand Slam tournament before this year’s French Open, despite her considerable talent.

But the world No. 15 showed her class to recover from a set and two break points down at 5-5 in the second to topple a resurgent Jabeur and reach the semi-finals.

Rollercoaster Roland-Garros encounter

In a back-and-forth first set, the big-serving Brazilian twice clawed back from a break down, only for the Tunisian to maintain the pressure and break her opponent for a third time before serving out the first set.

The second went entirely on serve right until a deciding tiebreak, but not before Jabeur had a golden chance to take complete control of the match. In the eleventh game of that middle set, Haddad Maia found herself 15-40 down on her serve and came perilously close to the point of no return.

However, the Brazilian demonstrated the mental fortitude she has perhaps lacked in the past, and saved both of those break points to hold serve before upping her game and taking the breaker in style.

The third set was poised to be a tight affair, but Jabeur’s game abandoned her, with Haddad Maia taking full advantage. Breaking serve four times to breeze to the finish line (despite one brief fightback in the form of a break back from Jabeur), the Brazilian took the last set 6-1 to upset the former world No. 2.

A Roland-Garros first for Brazilian tennis

Haddad Maia’s win marks the first time a Brazilian woman has reached the last four of Roland-Garros in the Open Era.

“First of all, I’d like to thank everybody that came today to support me – especially the Brazilians”, Haddad Maia said in her on-court interview.

“This is tennis. We work all year long to be in this moment. I remember that in the middle of the second set, my coach showed my the clock…

“So, yeah, I had to be patient, I had to keep doing the shots because, as you said, she’s a pretty good player, she’s one of the best players in the world.

“I’m very happy and proud of me and my team today.”

The Brazilian will next face the winner of the match between the world No. 1 and defending champion Iga Swiatek, and last year-s runner-up, Coco Gauff, in what will prove a tough challenge in reaching the final.

For now, however, Haddad Maia can revel in what is the biggest win of her career so far.

Paris (Grand Slam), other quarter-finals results (Stade Roland-Garros, clay, EUR 49.600.000, most recent results first):

• Iga Swiatek vs. Coco Gauff
• Aryna Sabalenka (2) beat Elina Svitolina: 6-4, 6-4
• Karolina Muchova beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova: 7-5, 6-2

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