Iga is champion at Roland Garros, and Bia Haddad becomes top 10 – 06/10/2023 – Sports

Iga Swiatek confirmed his favoritism and won, on Saturday afternoon in Paris (10th), the French Open title. The Polish woman maintained the high level shown since the beginning of last week and defeated the Czech Karolína Muchová by 2 sets to 1, 6/2, 5/7 and 6/4, in two hours and 46 minutes.

The hard-fought triumph of the world number one established the ranking to be published by the WTA, the association of professional tennis players, next week. And the list will have a Brazilian among the top ten for the first time.

Beatriz Haddad Maia, who arrived at Roland Garros in 14th place, will take the tenth place. Defeated by Swiatek in the semifinals at Roland Garros, the 27-year-old from São Paulo will make a significant leap forward and will join the “top 10” group.

The ranking was organized in the 1970s, when Maria Esther Bueno was already in the final stages of her career. The greatest tennis player in Brazil was among the great names of the modality in the previous decade and was considered the best of the season on some occasions, but, once the classification was created, she had the 29th place as the highest point.

Bia Haddad’s presence in the top ten depended on Saturday’s final because Muchová would overtake her if she won the title. Even so, the 26-year-old Czech will gain ground and jump from 43rd to 16th position.

Leadership has been Swiatek for over a year. And it was maintained with a very solid run at the French Open, with just one set down.

The 22-year-old athlete reached her fourth Grand Slam title, the series that brings together the four main tennis tournaments. There are three trophies at Roland Garros, where she had already triumphed in 2020 and 2022.

In the 2023 decision, the surprising Muchová –responsible for the elimination of Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, 25, world number two– created difficulties for the now three-time champion. She tried to vary her blows enough to create confusion in the favorite’s head.

It didn’t work in the first set, won by Iga with relative ease. In the second part, the Polish woman opened 3/0, but allowed the reaction of the Czech, who adopted a more aggressive strategy. Muchová served twice to tie the game, at 5/4 and 6/5, and was successful on the second attempt.

The game then took a series of twists. Muchová opened up the advantage, took the tie and again broke the rival’s service to serve in 4/3. The favorite grew in the moment of difficulty, sought the turnaround and closed the decision in a double fault by the opponent.

The circuit is now going into its grass season. It was during this period of the “tour”, in 2022, that Bia Haddad won her two elite titles, in Nottingham and Birmingham. The Brazilian, therefore, will need a good performance to defend the points obtained last year and remain in the “top 10”.