Bia Haddad advanced, in the early hours of this Tuesday (14th), to the second round of the Australian Open after resisting the young Argentine Julia Riera, who put her in serious trouble.
The São Paulo native needed 2 hours and 40 minutes to beat the 22-year-old Argentinean 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, who entered the final group in Australia after having passed through the knockout rounds.
Looking for her first victory in a Grand Slam, Riera surprised the Brazilian in the first set, in which she recovered from a break suffered at the beginning and broke Bia Haddad’s serve to close the partial 6-4.
Riera withstood strong blows from her opponent until the end of a hard-fought second set, which was only decided with a break point from the Brazilian in the penultimate game.
With the score already tied, Bia Haddad quickly secured the victory with a break in the first games of the last set.
In the second round, the Brazilian will face the young Russian Erika Andreeva, number 86 in the WTA ranking – the Women’s Tennis Association – and sister of the talented teenager Mirra Andreeva.
Riera’s defeat leaves the Australian Open women’s tournament without Argentine representatives after the elimination of Nadia Podoroska and Lourdes Carlé, who lost this Tuesday to American Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-3.
