Meet Beatriz Haddad Maia: Brazil's history-making female tennis star

To tennis fans, she’s simply known as “Bia.”

The last year has been anything but simple for 27-year-old Brazilian Beatriz “Bia” Haddad Maia, as the big-hitting left-hander from São Paulo has skyrocketed up the rankings and become the first woman from her country to reach a top 10 position in the world.

Last month, Haddad Maia made more history for Brazil when she became the first woman to reach the semi-finals at Roland-Garros in the Open Era (1968), while also being the first Brazilian woman in any major semi since Maria Bueno at the US Open in 1968.

“It's a dream,” she told reporters. “I think since I started to play tennis, me, my family, and everybody from my team, I was dreaming and working very hard for this moment.”

It marked the latest high point for Haddad Maia, who begins her Wimbledon campaign on Tuesday (4 July) in London a year after sweeping 10 grass court matches to win two titles in a row at WTA Tour stops.

Could Bia be in for another big run at a major?

We get to know the rising tennis star who has Brazilian fans flocking back to the sport.

Beatriz Haddad Maia: Making history for Brazil

While Brazil hasn’t been a dominant force in tennis over the last half-century, it’s certainly had its fair share of champions, including men’s No.1 and three-time major winner Gustavo Kuerten, who also had his big breakout at the French Open, back in 1997.

The aforementioned Bueno is the godmother of the country’s love affair with the sport, having largely played in the amateur era of tennis, winning seven singles Grand Slams between 1959 and 1966.

Doubles success has been more common for Brazilians, with both Bruno Soares and Marcelo Melo winning multiple doubles majors (with separate partners). Luisa Stefani is a top 10 force in doubles, as well, and won the Australian Open mixed doubles title.

“it's special to be Brazilian,” Hadded Maia said in 2022. “And I know there is a lot of nice people cheering for me as well. It's very nice to, as a woman, to show on television not only soccer [football].

“So I feel more proud of myself to show people, to show the children that they can do it, as well.”

All in the family

While Haddad Maia is breaking new ground for her country in the sport, she owes it all to her grandmother, her “Miminha”, she says.

“She is responsible for bringing tennis into my family,” Haddad Maia wrote on Instagram this year. “[She has been] an example of discipline, and that no matter the day we can always do something to be better.”

Her grandmother, Arlette Scaff Haddad, and her mother, Lais Scaff Haddad, were successful tennis players domestically in Brazil. Her uncle is Rolando Boldrin, a famed actor and talk show host in Brazil.

Bia the giant killer

While Haddad Maia has had a steady rise over the last couple of years, she’s had monumental moments within that time, including her upset win over world No.1 Iga Swiatek in Toronto in August 2022.

Her epic three-set win over Swiatek helped her make the final at the WTA 1000 event, where she fell to Simona Halep in three sets. It was her true announcement to the sporting globe, however.

“It feels special,” she told reporters. “I’ve had a lot of tough moments in my career. I have already [had] four surgeries... the truth is that I work for like 15 years to live this moment, to live this dream that I worked [for] a lot.”

Roland-Garros would bring more of those moments: In the fourth round she beat Sara Sorribes Tormo in three hours and 51 minutes, the third longest women’s match in French Open history - and the longest of the 2023 season so far.

She then took out Ons Jabeur, who was heavily favoured, in the quarter-finals, to make that historic semi for Brazil.

Suspended for banned substance

There have been stormy moments for Haddad Maia, too, namely her 2019 suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.

The International Tennis Federation ruled that Haddad Maia "bore No Significant Fault or Negligence for her violation" and accepted that the positive test was due to a supplement which had been contaminated with a banned substance, but issued her a 10-month ban when it reached its decision, meaning Haddad Maia missed July 2019 through May 2020, sliding in the rankings to No.1,342.

She maintained that she did not knowingly ingest the substance: “I would never risk something so important to me... I’ve always played fair,” she wrote on her Instagram. “Those who know me know my style, my character.”

Haddad Maia did not, however, challenge the ruling, instead sitting out for her banned period and then slowly working her back up the rankings, ending 2020 at No.358, 2021 at 82, and 2022 at 15^th in the world.

Who is Beatriz Haddad Maia?

Beatriz has Lebanese roots (Haddad) and says her family ate Lebanese food growing up in São Paulo.

She has a love of art: Haddad Maia often posts acrylic drawings to her social media channels to share with fans, and ahead of Wimbledon this year she accepted the challenge to do an oil landscape on canvas.

“It helps me be present... to have something off court and to relax” with, she said of her art. “It helps me be out of the bubble that we live in.”

It’s not just drawing: “Sometimes I like to play the guitar; that helps me relax, as well,” she said.

“Athletes and artists have things in common; both of them have to have the intuition side,” she added. “You have to solve problems in the moment when things are not going your way.”