Brazilian tennis player Bia Haddad is runner-up at Toronto WTA 1000

Brazilian Bia Haddad Maia on Sunday (Aug. 14) was defeated by Romanian Simona Halep, by 2 sets to 1 (partial 6/3, 2/6, and 6/3), and was crowned runner-up in the Toronto WTA 1000 championship in Canada.

This victory was historic, as it was the first time a representative of Brazil reached a 1000-level decision (which is only below the Grand Slam tournaments) in the open (modern) era of tennis, which began in 1968. Her trajectory, among others, included victories over Canada's Leylah Fernandez (runner-up in the 2020 edition of the US Open), Poland's Iga Świątek (world ranking leader), and Switzerland's Belinda Bencic (Olympic champion), left the Brazilian athlete in 16th place in the International Women's Tennis Association (WTA) ranking.

The inclusion of Bia´s name in the list of the 20 best tennis players in the world will be confirmed when it is updated today (Aug. 15). This is the best position ever reached by a Brazilian athlete (in the 1960s, when Maria Esther Bueno won titles, the world ranking didn't exist yet).