Pia makes history and wins an unprecedented title on the grass

Nottingham (England) – On the historic Sunday of Brazilian tennis, Beatrice Haddad-Maia won the biggest title of her singles career and her first title on the elite circuit. Pea won the WTA 250 race in Nottingham, on grass, by defeating American Alison Riske, who was ranked 40th in the standings, in the final 6/4, 1/6, 6/3 in two hours and 18 minutes into the match.

Villa is the first Brazilian to win a professional championship on grass From the legendary Maria Esther Bueno in Manchester in 1968. While most of Maria Esther’s accomplishments predated the Open Era, including her four Grand Slams in the seven singles, the tennis baller went on to win trophies on the elite professional circuit. Niag Dias holds two titles, as does Tiliana Pereira, who won two tournaments on clay in 2015, in Bogota and Florianópolis.

Until then, the biggest title in Pia’s solo career had been won in May of this year, the WTA 125 Series Championship, tied by the ATP’s biggest competitor, in Saint-Malo, France, on clay. I already played in the 250 final in 2017 In Seoul, where she overtook the then top ten Yelena Ostapenko. In doubles, the 26-year-old from Sao Paulo has racked up three wins, including the WTA 500 in Sydney, alongside Kazakh Anna Danielina earlier this year. Playing together, they were also a finalist for the Australian Open.

BIA’s first WTA single title

🇺🇸 Beatrice Haddad Maya beats Risk in three sets to win the Cup in Nottingham!#RothesayOpen pic.twitter.com/29bRgGUzHT

– wta (WTA) June 12 2022

Until this Sunday, Pia will play in the doubles final in Nottingham. She joins 33-year-old China’s Shuai Zhang, the world number four in the sport, to face Romania’s Monica Niculescu and American Caroline Dolehide. The prize money for the singles champion is $33,200. The double champion shares $12,000, while the runner-up receives $6,700.

Pia will be ranked 40 after the tournament
With the title, Piya would also jump in the world rankings. She already had the best mark of her career, placing 48th, with a score of 280 for the achievement. Thus, he will be 32nd in the rankings to be released next Monday, surpassing the best mark of Tiliana Pereira, 43, and having one place to repeat Niag Dias, 31, among the Brazilians.

Alison Riske, who was defeated by Pea in the singles final, is 31 years old and already 18th in the world and He has a good record on the lawn. The experienced American had already played in the final of Nottingham in 2018 and was the WTA champion Hertogenbosch in 2019. In the same year, she also reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. Additionally, he won two ITF-level championships on turf.

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🇧🇷 BIA 🇧🇷 BIA 🇧🇷

year 2022 #RothesayOpen Nottingham champion! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/6kYWKCb4E2

– wta (WTA) June 12 2022

Pia needed three sets to win the title
It was a very good start to the match for Pea, who took an early break and put her opponent under constant pressure in the service matches. The Brazilian created chances in three different matches to extend her lead on the scoreboard, but the American managed to save herself in all of them, including a fixed point at 5/3. In her service, Pia encountered only two break points, in the same game, and escaped both. The combination of serve and first ball was too good for her. After 51 minutes of contention, Piya scored 16 to 12 in the winners and made 23 unforced errors to 15.

The second set started with long matches and chances for both teams, but Riske was dominant in the most important moments. The American had two breaks in a row and started 4/0, while Pia couldn’t capitalize on any of the six break points she earned in the split. Three of them were when the opponent was already 5-1 ahead and reversing 0-40 with a streak of impressive serve, including 2 aces.

A special forward pass from Haddad Maya! 🎯#RothesayOpen pic.twitter.com/Hc76poujOA

– wta (WTA) June 12 2022

The partial also had two referee appointments that dismayed the Brazilian, the first being a ball correction called for by the written judge, and according to President Julie Kgendley’s ruling she did not interfere with Biya’s movement. The other was in the marked sending. The tournament does not contain the electronic challenge feature. At the end of the set, Riske had scored 14 to 12 winners and only made 5 fouls against Bia’s 15.

Risk started better in the third set and opened 2-0. The North American team succeeded in blocking the Brazilian’s serve and just played it. But Piya managed to quickly replay the second half and came back to play aggressively, leaving to determine the points. There was another controversial referee appointment, at 3/3, but then the 1 seeded player in Brazil didn’t lose more matches. She had another break, with a double fault from her opponent, and still does very well in moments of pressure to win.

Each player finished the match with 39 winners and Pia committed more unforced errors, 47 to 32. The match featured three breaks for each side, as the Brazilian made 16 break points and faced nine. Riske led the count at 5-2 and made three double faults against Bia’s six.