Just weeks after a shower door accident required her to get stitches in both hands, Beatriz Haddad Maia had the best week of her career in Zhuhai, China.
The 27-year-old arrived at the WTA Elite Trophy tournament — the second-tier year-end event — having won just one match since sustaining the injury and with no singles titles in a hardcourt event. But she left it the champion in both singles and doubles.
On Sunday, Haddad Maia won the third and biggest singles title of her career in a nearly three-hour clash against local favorite Qinwen Zheng, 7-6 (11), 7-6 (4). It was the longest tour-level straight-set match of the year — and her emotions at the end made it clear just how hard she had worked for the win.
Brilliant from Bia 👏
Haddad Maia claims her first Hologic WTA Tour title of the 2023 season, defeating Zheng 7-6(11), 7-6(4) in Zhuhai!#WTAEliteTrophy pic.twitter.com/u0zRtEImeU
— wta (@WTA) October 29, 2023
“Today I was trying to be as aggressive as I was during this week,” Haddad Maia said. “My mentality was very important. I was trying to be patient in the moments things were not going the way that I wanted. It’s a very special week for me. When I came to Asia, I had stitches in my fingers in the first round of Beijing, and now I’m finishing the season with a trophy in my hands.”
And she wasn’t done collecting trophies just yet.
Hours later, the Brazilian followed it up by winning the doubles title alongside Veronika Kudermetova. The duo defeated Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi 6-3, 6-3. Haddad Maia, who didn’t drop a set in either draw throughout the tournament, became the first player in history to win both titles.
Need an extra suitcase from Zhuhai🧳
Singles AND Doubles Champ, Beatriz Haddad Maia 👏#WTAEliteTrophy pic.twitter.com/jOlS8M1o0G
— wta (@WTA) October 29, 2023
Here’s what else you might have missed from around the tennis world last week:
Rivals and friends
Jannik Sinner won his second title of the month on Sunday with a 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-3 victory over Daniil Medvedev in the final of the Vienna Open. After defeating Medvedev in the final at the China Open, Sinner repeated his dominance just three weeks later to claim his fourth trophy of the year.
It was a tightly contested match from the start and Sinner saved two set points in the opener before ultimately taking the early lead. While Medvedev fought back to win the second set, Sinner took control in the decider and closed out the match…
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