Beatriz Haddad Maia (Twitter)
The Brazilian sensation – Beatriz Haddad Maia will take on the Japanese youngster Yuki Naito in the round of 32 of the Japan Open.
The 21-year-old has had some decent outings in the ITF circuit. She has made it to three finals in ITF events in Spain, Australia, and Croatia. However, a title has eluded her so far. Naito has not yet managed to reach the main draw at a major event. At the French Open, she won her first couple of qualifying matches before losing the third.
The World No. 210 took part in the recently-concluded Chennai Open. However, after winning her first qualifying match with relative ease, she faced defeat in the second qualifying match against Olivia Tjandramulia.
The 26-year-old has been a giant killer this season. She will be quietly pleased with her results this year. Haddad Maia began the year with some impressive results in doubles events. However, she impressed everyone with her run to the singles semifinals at the Monterrey Open. She won a WTA 125K title in Saint-Malo and followed it up with an appearance in the final at the WTA 125 event in Paris. The World No. 16 won back-to-back titles in the Nottingham Open and Birmingham Open.
At Eastbourne International, she made it to the semifinals before losing to Petra Kvitova. Haddad Maia was inches away from winning her first WTA 1000 title as she lost in the Canadian Open final to 2-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep. After disappointing campaigns at the Cincinnati Masters and the US Open, the Brazilian made it to the quarterfinals at the Slovenia Open before coming to Japan.
The duo has not faced each other before. Therefore, the head-to-head currently stands at 0-0.
Prediction: Beatriz Haddad Maia to win in straight sets.
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