Bia Haddad’s extraordinary ability to bounce back

Daughter and granddaughter of tennis players, Beatriz Haddad Maia emerged as one of the talents of Brazilian sport at the age of 15. With great results in youth, her professional career was marked by injuries and doping, until she reached the highest individual placement of a Brazilian in the ranking. At 26 years old, she has reached the top 25 of the world rankings and it will not stop there. Get to know Bia Haddad’s overcoming story!

Daughter of tennis player, tennis player is

Beatriz Haddad Maia was born on May 30, 1996, in São Paulo. From a family of Lebanese descent, her mother and grandmother were professional tennis players and influenced her to practice the sport from an early age. At age 5, Beatriz chose to train, standing out for being left-handed and using both hands to defend herself, in the so-called backhand.

He started his career in the youth category and won his first title at the age of 14, teaming up with Flávia Guimarães Bueno in a tournament in Mogi das Cruzes. At 15, she was champion of the Goiânia tournament, this time playing alone. She was a two-time finalist at Roland Garros, in 2012 and 2013, pairing with Paraguay’s Montserrat González and Ecuador’s Doménica González, respectively. She also reached the Wimbledon semi-finals alongside Russian Mayya Katsitadze in 2011.

professional tennis player

In 2014, Beatriz came of age and competed on the professional circuit, becoming the second best Brazilian in the ranking at the time. She made her WTA debut in Florianópolis in 2015 and beat Taiwanese Hsu Chieh-yu in the first round. She also started her career in doubles alongside Carla Forte. They, however, were eliminated in the quarterfinals by the Germans Kristina Barrois and Tatjana Maria.

In 2015, after participating in several championships across America, such as the Rio Open and Family Circle Cup, Haddad won his first title in doubles alongside fellow countryman Paula Cristina Gonçalves in the Copa Colsanitas, in Bogotá. Three months later, she suffered an injury and was eliminated in the first round of the Pan American Games in Toronto. She ended the season after having operated on her shoulder, finishing in 198th place in the world rankings.

Returns to the courts in 2016, at the ITF in Guarujá. In January, she won the doubles title alongside Paula Gonçalves. She participated in several tournaments, including qualifying at Roland Garros, until winning the ITF in Scottsdale and, the following week, the ITF in Waco. She finished this year at number 170 in the world. Unfortunately, that same year, Beatriz suffered a domestic accident on Christmas Eve.

In 2017, he won four major titles: Clare’s ITF in doubles and singles; Bogotá’s WTA in doubles and Cagnes-sur-Mer’s ITF in singles. She also entered the main draw for the first time at Grand Slams such as the US Open, Wimbledon and Roland Garros. Her excellent results took her to the 58th place in the ranking. The following year, in 2018, she participated in the Australian Open, being defeated in the second round of singles by Karolina Plíšková and in the doubles.

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Doping and return to court

The year 2019 marked the career of the tennis player from São Paulo after she tested positive in anti-doping control for two synthetic anabolic steroids. In February 2020, she was sentenced to a ten-month suspension, counting the time she had already served since July 2019. She would return to compete only in May 2020, but the season was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In September, Beatriz returned to compete in tournaments in Portugal and won the four she played. In December, she suffered yet another injury, to her hand, and had to undergo surgery, ending her season.

Bia Haddad had an incredible comeback and returned to the top 100 in 2021, after having plummeted to 1342nd place due to inactivity in 2019 and 2020. She won five ITF tournaments and had a great run in Indian Wells, only defeated in the fourth round by Anett Kontaveit. Outside the Tokyo Olympics, Beatriz was a commentator on SporTV channels.

The year 2022 began in an Australian Open final in doubles with Anna Danilina, from Kazakhstan, after the two won the WTA 500 in Sydney. She hit a winning streak at Saint Malo’s WTA 125 in singles and Paris’s WTA 125 in doubles. In June, she won her biggest singles title, the WTA Nottingham, becoming the first Brazilian to win a grass court tournament since Maria Esther Bueno.

She even won the doubles final alongside Zhang Shuai. The Chinese would be the opponent in the final of the next tournament, the WTA Birmingham, but withdrew due to an injury. Thus, Bia Haddad won her second WTA singles title. The results placed her in 25th place in the world ranking, the best individual result by a Brazilian woman in the history of tennis.

Beatriz Haddad effect in Brazilian tennis

Brazilian women’s tennis is going through a great phase with the presence of Bia Haddad, Luisa Stefani, Laura Pigossi and Carol Meligeni in tournaments around the world. They spend almost 9 months away from home and are proud to take the country to the podiums, both for individual and doubles achievements. In an interview with Gazeta Esportiva, Bia Haddad told what it is like for her to be an influence on girls who dream of being professional tennis players:

“I think all this is something very positive for us to see more and more girls believing and looking at us, being inspired. I think that’s the main point, when one starts pulling the other, making the other believe too.” – Bia Haddad

In addition to achieving a higher position than Maria Esther Bueno, she seeks to get even closer to the new generations, leaving the environment more natural. Even away from home, she likes to be able to eat, train and share experiences with young athletes, so that they feel more comfortable and confident to face heavyweight athletes. Beatriz plays a key role in the sport and wants to create more visibility for new athletes in the sport.

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10 curiosities to be inspired by the tennis career

After several journeys marked by ups and downs, Bia Haddad teaches that the key to overcoming starts with insistence and will. So, she checks out some curiosities of the athlete:

1. Brazil’s first title in a grass tournament since 1968

Maria Esther Bueno, women’s tennis legend, was the last Brazilian to win a grass title, in 1968. Beatriz broke her 54-year fast by winning the biggest title of her career, the WTA 250 in Nottingham. She played in the final against the American Alison Riske by 6/4, 1/6 and 6/3, in 2h18min of departure. The next day, she was champion in doubles with Chinese Shuai Zhang.

2. She is not related to Fernando Haddad

As much as the last name is the same, former presidential candidate Fernando Haddad and Beatriz Haddad are not related. Of Arab origin, the surname is very common in the region of São Paulo, due to the large number of immigrants.

3. Best placement of a Brazilian in the WTA ranking

After being a semifinalist in the WTA 500 in Eastbourne, England, Bia Haddad came in 28th place, surpassing Maria Esther Bueno’s 29th in 1976. Considered a tennis ballerina, Bueno had her peak in the 50s/60s, when she still there was an official ranking. She was named the best tennis player in the world after winning the Wimbledon Tournament three times.

4. Unbeaten for 12 games

Still in the WTA Eastbourne, Beatriz was eliminated by the Czech Petra Kvitová and lost an unbeaten run of 12 games. She came from two titles in a row, the WTA 250 in Nottingham and Birmingham and was seeded at Wimbledon.

5. “Since I won my first title on clay, I haven’t read things about myself”

Bia received the press in São Paulo, after returning from a tournament season in England. Filled with questions about how she was dealing with the repercussions of her feats and her elimination in the first round of Wimbledon, she said with great calm and serenity that she doesn’t read the things that are written about her. “I don’t look for acceptance, praise or criticism. I’m not looking for this hype from outside. I’m happy to give this joy to the Brazilian, but I’ve been through very hard moments in my career and these are hard to bear”, revealed the tennis player.

6. Dedicated the title to Luisa Stefani

On September 10, 2021, tennis player Luisa Stefani was playing in the doubles semifinal at the US Open when she suffered an injury and tore a knee ligament. On the 12th, Bia Haddad won the W60 in Montreux and dedicated the title to her friend and partner in the Brazilian team on her social networks:

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“I know that wasn’t the title you wanted for this week, but we never know tomorrow. We are subject to anything and anytime. Life is a box of surprises, and sometimes we go from heaven to hell in less than a minute. What you went through in these last few hours just reminded me of the simplest values in life: health. The opportunity to do what I love and to be able to enjoy every moment with the people I love. Your way of dealing and seeing life will make you pass this little stone on the way with a smile on your face. Take care, Luisa Stefani, the whole of Brazil is very proud to see you shine and put on a show, just like you do.” – Bia Haddad

7. Has an artistic vein too

Beatriz’s uncle Rolando Boldrin is a famous singer and presenter of Mr. Brazil on TV Cultura. In her free time, off the court, she takes a chance on the guitar, inspired by her uncle, and takes a chance on drawings to explore her creativity.

8. It is 1.85 m tall

In 2016, a survey carried out by Folha showed that top-level female tennis players are growing by about three centimeters every five years. That year, the average height was 1.78 m. Former tennis player Pam Shriver commented: “The average of the top ten in the world should go over 6 feet in five years at most.” Among the top 25 in the ranking, Beatriz is just one centimeter shorter than Czech Karolina Plíšková. And of those 25, only 9 are over 1.80 m tall.

9. Reading habit

The habit of reading has become a great strategy for high-level athletes. Judoka Mayra Aguiar said that reading biographies is something that helps her a lot to escape anxiety on the eve of tournaments. Beatriz shared that she was reading ‘Tudo é rio’, by Carla Madeira, as soon as she returned to Brazil after a stint in Europe. The tennis player also thanked the suggestion and asked for others.

10. Take advantage of your free time to take a risk in surfing

Bia Haddad ventures into surfing, a sport that she claims is self-knowledge, necessary to keep her feet on the ground. “I never understood the addiction a surfer had to getting up early every day to catch a perfect wave. Or travel the world for that. What madness. It is a mixture of self-knowledge, training, respect, humility, overcoming. And all this in connection with nature. It’s a life lesson.”

Bia Haddad is building her legacy in Brazilian tennis with a lot of grit and resilience. Another athlete who overcame several obstacles to conquer her big dream is libero Camila Brait. How about reading about the Olympic medalist and idol from Osasco?