Bia Haddad beats Russian and advances in Australian Open – 01/17/2024 – Sport

Brazilian tennis player Beatriz Haddad Maia beat the 16-year-old Russian prospect, Alina Korneeva, in the early hours of this Wednesday (17). The victory qualified her for the third round of the Australia Open, an unprecedented feat in her career.

Bia Haddad won the match at Rod Laver Arena, in Melbourne, 6/1 and 6/2. The Brazilian, who is number 12 in the world, participated three times in the second round of the tournament, where she suffered losses and was eliminated.

With the victory, she became the first Brazilian to reach the third round of the Grand Slam in the open era, which began in 1968, when professionals began to participate in the tournaments. In 1965, tennis player Maria Esther Bueno, considered the greatest tennis player in Brazilian history, was runner-up in Australia.

For the next phase, the 27-year-old Brazilian arrives as the favorite, as her rival will be the young Maria Timofeeva, 20 years old, number 170 in the world.

If she wins the next match, Bia Haddad will become the Brazilian tennis player with the best result in the Grand Slam in the open era, considering the men’s and women’s brackets. Guga (2004), Jaime Oncins (1991) and Marcos Hocevar were the Brazilians who reached the farthest in the tournament, falling in the third round.

Bia also reinforced her record as the Brazilian who participated in the most games in the tournament. It was his ninth match at the Australian Open.

Before her, the record belonged to Maria Esther Bueno, who played eight games in the tournament.

On the court, the confrontation lasted 1h and 20, with Bia winning in two sets to 0, 6/1 and 6/2.

The first stage of the game was calm for the Brazilian, who took a 3-1 lead in just 16 minutes and, at 29, already had 5-1 on the scoreboard.

The second set began with a serve from the Russian that was countered by Bia, opening 2-0. Afterwards, the game became even, and the 16-year-old girl gave the Brazilian a hard time, keeping the match for a long time at 4 to 2. Finally, the Russian committed a double fault and the Brazilian won.

“I know how difficult it is to be here, to be Brazilian, and to be a woman”, commented Bia after her victory. This is the fifth time that the Brazilian competes in the Open.