Brazilian suffered but beat Argentine Julia Riera in three sets, partials of 4/6, 7/5 and 6/2, after 2 hours and 40 minutes of match
The Brazilian ended her streak of winning singles this season this Monday (13). After three defeats, the 17th ranked player in the world suffered, but sought a tough comeback in the opening of the , passing Argentine Julia Riera in three sets, partials of 4/6, 7/5 and 6/2 in a 2h40 battle. Bia Haddad ended a frustrating and worrying start to the season, in which she was unable to impose herself in the three singles matches played so far. Brazil’s number 1 lost her duels in the United Cup to the Chinese Xingyu Gao and the German Laura Siegemund, in addition to saying goodbye in her debut in Adelaide, against the North American Madison Keys. In the tournament that preceded the Australian Open, he at least advanced to the doubles final alongside Siegemund.
In the second round, her rival will be Russian Erika Andreeva, who beat Chinese Saisai Zheng, also this Monday, 6/1 and 7/6 (8/6). Last year, the Brazilian reached the third round of the first Grand Slam of the year, when she ended up being surprised by the Russian Maria Timofeeva, falling in two sets. Now, he dreams of walking even further. Bia started off a little hastily at the 1573 Arena, in Melbourne, wanting to confirm her quick favoritism against her opponent who came in the qualifiers and occupies only 146th place in the ranking, and ended up making some silly errors on her serve at the beginning, with a ball in the net and a double lack. Nothing that would get in the way, however. ‘Releasing her arm’, the Brazilian sought to quickly take over the actions of the clash, but ran into a fierce and vibrant Argentine.
It didn’t take long for the services to start and come in – all that was needed was to put a little more pressure on Riera’s serve. The sun was in favor of the Brazilian, who soon took control of the match with a break in the fifth game. Intense, the Brazilian celebrated a lot, with her fist clenched, making it 3-2 with a winner. As has been the case throughout the season, the 15th seed didn’t know how to maintain the advantage and saw Riera return the break and serve to get back ahead on the scoreboard. Bia didn’t lose focus, took a deep breath and stayed on task, even though she was busy working. But a blackout in the decisive games ended up costing the first set Bia had two break points to break again and wasted Riera saved herself and still made a mistake in the 10th game.
The Brazilian did not take advantage of another 40-15, now on serve, she abused mistakes due to excessive nervousness and ended up losing the set 6-4. Needing to stop the Argentine’s excitement, the Brazilian failed again on break point at the start of the second set . The aggressive style, however, gave the impression of a new tennis player on the court. The conversation with the corner made her change her strategy. The tennis player from São Paulo found a way to play on serve. I needed to know how to calmly break the serve and grow in the partial, causing discomfort to the opponent. Riera had high confidence and was always ahead in the partial. In a repeat of the first set, Bia Haddad served in the 10th game under pressure from 5 to 4 against. Suffering the break was saying goodbye prematurely.
Bia made her point, with a shout of relief, and finally reached the break she was looking for. Soon double dose and wasted. He still failed on the third opportunity. In the longest game of the match, lasting almost ten minutes, the Brazilian celebrated the break at the fourth opportunity. And, after saving five breaks, he tied the game at 7-5. In an unpredictable third set, being cold-blooded would be decisive. Riera began to suffer from the Brazilian’s aggressiveness, but used her technique and courage to stay in the game. Each with their own trick, the match was equal until 2 to 2 with serves predominating. In the fifth game, Riera stopped at the net and suffered a break, paving the way for Bia Haddad’s comeback.
With shouts of “let’s go, Bia”, the Brazilian came out of a 15-40 hole to take a 4-2 lead in the game. The Argentine’s dejected face reflected that not having returned the break in that game was the final point in the hope of triumphing in her first Grand Slam of her career. The green and yellow tennis player rose, broke again and then served to celebrate a victory again. Of relief and may it be a resurgence and a return to major presentations.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
Published by Matheus Lopes
