World No. 24 Beatriz Haddad Maia said she was trying to “play every single point excuse” versus top-ranked Iga Swiatek. In the National Bank Open last-16 in Toronto, Haddad Maia stunned first-seeded Swiatek 6-4 3-6 7-5 to clinch the biggest victory of her career.
“I knew that I had to play my best tennis,” Haddad Maia said, per the WTA website. “And also she could beat me, even if I was playing well. So I was trying to play every single point without excuse. I was trying to forget about what I did wrong, about the mistakes, and just go for it.
I was just trying to live in the present. To play point by point. The weather conditions we don’t control, we can’t control. So it’s not something that I can manage. So I need to deal with. And, yeah, I think I did a good mental job.”
Haddad Maia edged out Swiatek in three tight sets
Haddad Maia claimed the first break of the match in the fifth game and then held on to her serve the rest of the set to win the opener. After losing the first set, Swiatek saved five break points in the opening game of the second set before earning the lone break of the set in the sixth game.
In the third set, Haddad Maia missed out on a match point in the 10th game but realized her second match point two games later to complete a stunning victory. “I had a lot of tough moments in my career,” Haddad Maia added.
“I have already had four surgeries and I’m only 26 years old. So when I have special moments I try to enjoy. Because sometimes we think, Oh, no, I’m not that happy. I’m not that, I don’t think about winning. But the truth is that I work for like 15 years to live this moment, to live this dream that I worked a lot.”
