Brazilian tennis player Beatriz Haddad Maia, 59th in the world rankings, debuted this Saturday (17th) at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, with a comeback defeat by 2 sets to 1 against Kazakh Yulia Putintseva (105th).
In a match that lasted 2h55, Bia Haddad won the first part by 6-3, but saw Putintseva raise her level to score 7/5 and 6/3 in the second and third sets.
It was the third meeting between the two tennis players, and the first setback for the Brazilian. They had already faced each other twice in 2023, at the WTA 500 in Abu Dhabi and at Wimbledon.
It was the Brazilian’s second defeat of the season, after having also lost in the WTA 500 debut in Adelaide to Canadian Victoria Mboko (17th).
The São Paulo tennis player’s best campaign in the tournament held in Melbourne was the third round, reached in 2024 and 2025. The last time she had fallen in the first round was in 2023.
The best Brazilian in the ranking returned to the circuit this month after announcing, in mid-September, the early end of the 2025 season, “to be able to rest her body and mind for a longer period.”
Last season, Bia Haddad accumulated 26 defeats and managed just 16 wins, ending the year as 58th in the rankings, her worst position since 2021, when she finished in 82nd place.
The best campaign last year was at the WTA 500 in Strasbourg, France, when she advanced to the semifinals, stopping against Kazakh Elena Rybakina.
In the last appointment of 2025, at the WTA 500 in Seoul, in which she was champion in 2024, the Brazilian fell in the second round. His last victory was on September 17, in his tournament debut in the South Korean capital.
