Haddad Maia sets up Birmingham final against doubles partner Zhang, beats Halep
The Brazilian is putting together an incredible streak ahead of Wimbledon
Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia reacts during her semi final match against Romania’s Simona Halep (AI/Reuters/Panoramic)
Beatriz Haddad Maia clocked her first win over Simona Halep to reach the Rothesay Classic final in Birmingham, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
She has now won nine straight matches on grass, having won the title in Nottingham last week.
“I’m happy,” she said in her on-court interview. “Simona is a great player. I knew playing my best tennis wasn’t enough, I needed to be aggressive. I was trying to push myself, trying to improve my game.”
She had gone 3-1 down in the final set, and said she was just thinking about the next point.
“It’s the way my team is trying to build my mentality to play. I was trying to fight.”
The Brazilian will play Zhang Shuai for the title – the woman with who she won the doubles in Nottingham last week. The eighth seed beat Sorana Cirstea 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5) in the other semi-final.
People in this post
More tennis news
November 9, 1993: The day the great Bjorn Borg played his last-ever professional match
Noskova converts all four break points to beat Kostyuk in WTA Finals opener
Alcaraz on course for an indoor hat-trick: “Probably the best I’ve played since my comeback”
“If you miss your chance, another isn’t going to come”: Shelton on the small window against Alcaraz
“I couldn’t wait to step on the court in front of all of you”: emotional Alcaraz thanks the Paris crowd after missing Roland-Garros
