Can a Brazilian reclaim Roland Garros glory?
Tennis player Bia Haddad Maia became the first Brazilian woman to qualify for the semi-final at Roland Garros in the Open era today, beating Tunisian opponent Ons Jabeur in the quarter-final by two sets to one. On Thursday, she will play world number one and reigning French Open champion Iga Swiatek for a spot in Saturday’s final
Ms. Haddad Maia was the underdog against her Tunisian adversary — who is ranked seventh in the world — and indeed she lost the first set 6-3.
She managed to tie the match up in a second-set tiebreak and broke Ms. Jabeur’s service four times in the final set to take the victory.
The last time any Brazilian tennis player reached the semi-finals of Roland Garros, it was Gustavo “Guga” Kuerten in 2001 — and he went on to win the final that year for the third time in his career. The former top-ranked tennis player won the French Open another two previous times (in 1997 and 2000) — and was in 2016 named an international ambassador of Roland Garros.
Wednesday’s quarter-final match ran just shy of two hours and a half, but Ms. Haddad Maia has been no stranger to long matches in this year’s French Open. Her last-16 victory against Sara Sorribes Tormo stretched three hours and 51 minutes — the longest women’s match in 2023 so far.
Celebrating her unprecedented win on Court Philippe-Chatrier, Ms. Haddad Maia explained that she always prepares her body to play long matches, as physical conditioning is a key factor in winning Grand Slam tournaments, which often have little time for rest in between matches.
“I remember in the middle of the second set, my coach showed me the clock, it was one hour and a half, and I thought, ‘O.K. maybe I have two more hours,'” she said, during her post-match interview on court.
Ms. Haddad Maia now has just over 24 hours to rest and prepare to face Poland’s Iga Swiatek, the current world number one. Ms. Swiatek has had a straightforward route to the final four, with none of her matches so far going beyond two sets. On Wednesday, the 2022 Roland Garros winner dispatched the U.S.’s Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-2.
Before this year, Ms. Haddad Maia had never made it past the first week in a Grand Slam tournament. Ranked 14th in the world at the moment, she is guaranteed a top-ten ranking by the end of this year’s Roland Garros, regardless of her result against Ms. Swiatek on Thursday.
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