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Iga Swiatek failed to live up to her potential as the Brazilian tennis pro – Beatriz Haddad Maia got the better of the world No. 1 in the round of 16 of the 2022 Canadian Open.
Beatriz Haddad Maia became the first Brazilian woman to progress to the quarterfinal of a WTA 1000 tournament after defeating Iga Swiatek 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in Montreal. This was also Maia’s first win against a top-ranked player.
The Polish sensation was far from her best and committed as many as 9 double faults compared to just 1 from her opponent in windy conditions. After the match, Swiatek said she was perplexed as to what disrupted her performance more – the windy conditions or her opponent’s game.
“Right now it’s hard to say if it was more her game or the wind that really messed up my first set,” Swiatek said. “I think she just used the conditions better than me. “When she was playing with the wind she was playing really strong balls and sometimes I was late for them.”
World No. 24 Maia beat her third top-10 opponent this season. She has already won two titles at Nottingham and Birmingham in June.
This was the first time anyone from her country faced a top-ranked player since Telian Pereira’s loss to Serena Williams at the 2016 French Open. The 26-year-old will face Belinda Bencic in the quarter-final.
Iga Swiatek has won six titles already this year. That includes a French Open triumph as well. However, she couldn’t progress beyond the third round at Wimbledon.
The Poland Open was her next assignment and Swiatek got ousted in the quarter-final. At the Canadian Open, Swiatek started with a comfortable win against Ajla Tomljanovic before being overwhelmed by Beatriz Haddad Maia.
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