Haddad Maia sets up Birmingham final against doubles partner Zhang, beats Halep

The Brazilian is putting together an incredible streak ahead of Wimbledon

Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia reacts during her semi final match against Romania’s Simona Halep (AI/Reuters/Panoramic)

June 19, 2022

Beatriz Haddad Maia clocked her first win over Simona Halep to reach the Rothesay Classic final in Birmingham, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

She has now won nine straight matches on grass, having won the title in Nottingham last week.

“I’m happy,” she said in her on-court interview. “Simona is a great player. I knew playing my best tennis wasn’t enough, I needed to be aggressive. I was trying to push myself, trying to improve my game.”

She had gone 3-1 down in the final set, and said she was just thinking about the next point.

“It’s the way my team is trying to build my mentality to play. I was trying to fight.”

China’s Shuai Zhang in action during her semi final match against Romania’s Sorana Cirstea (AI/Reuters/Panoramic)

The Brazilian will play Zhang Shuai for the title – the woman with who she won the doubles in Nottingham last week. The eighth seed beat Sorana Cirstea 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5) in the other semi-final.