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Iga Swiatek stunned amid 'incredible' scenes at the Canadian Open

andrew reid
·5-min read
Seen here, Iga Swiatek loses in three sets to Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia at the Canadian Open.
Iga Swiatek was stunned in three sets by Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia at the Canadian Open. Pic: Getty/WTA

Giant-killing Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia has continued her stunning season with a shock victory over World No.1 Iga Swiatek at the Canadian Open.

Haddad Maia beat the Polish star 6-4 3-6 7-5 to book her spot in the quarter-finals and send shockwaves through the tournament in Toronto.

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Boasting wins already this season against women's heavyweights such as Simon Halep, Maria Sakkara, Petra Kvitova and Leylah Fernandez, the 26-year-old Brazilian added the biggest scalp to her list in Canada.

With Swiatek bidding for her 50th win of a brilliant 2022, Haddad Maia had other ideas as she went about snapping the Pole's 20-match hard court winning streak.

In the opening set, Swiatek struck a double-fault to hand the unseeded Haddad Maia a 3-2 lead and the Brazilian leaned on her powerful serve and groundstrokes to close out the frame without facing a break point.

Swiatek fended off five break points to hold serve in a 15-minute opening game of the second set and later consolidated a break for a 5-2 lead before going on to force a decider.

World No.24 Haddad Maia broke Swiatek three times in the third set, including in the final game on her fourth match point when the Pole sent a forehand wide.

All up, the Brazilian hit 23 winners against just 12 unforced errors to stun the two-time major winner in a thrilling three-hour duel.

"I knew that all the matches here would be very tough, not only top 20 players, like the first round was a very, very tough round and I won in three sets as well," said the 26-year-old Haddad Maia during her on-court interview.

"Tennis is like that. It doesn't matter where you are playing, which court and with who. You need to push yourself to improve your game and I think that was the key for both (of my three-set) victories and I am very proud of myself."

Haddad Maia's stunning victory also snaps Swiatek's 23-match winning streak at 1000-level events, following titles at Doha, Indian Wells, Miami and Rome for the World No.1.

Brazilian joins big guns in last eight

Haddad Maia now faces a quarter-final showdown against either Spanish eighth seed Garbine Muguruza or 12th-seeded Belinda Bencic.

Joining the Brazilian in the quarters is American Jessica Pegula who knocked out defending champion Camila Giorgi.

Coco Gauff and Halep also booked their places in the last eight in Toronto.

American seventh seed Pegula rallied to beat Italy's Giorgi 3-6 6-0 7-5 and will next face either compatriot Alison Riske-Amritraj or Kazakh Yulia Putintseva.

Seen here, American Jessica Pegula celebrates winning a point in a match at the Canadian Open.
American Jessica Pegula was too good for defending champion Camila Giorgi at the Canadian Open. Pic: Getty

Tenth seed Gauff beat sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7-4) a day after ousting Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in a third-set tiebreak to set up a clash with 15th seed Halep, a 6-2 7-5 winner over Jil Teichmann.

"These type of matches, you know, the goal, yeah, to win the tournament. But I feel like for me I needed these matches leading up into the US Open," said Gauff. "So if I have a tough moment, I can look back on this."

With the win over Sabalenka, Gauff became the youngest player to reach back-to-back quarter-finals in Canada since Jennifer Capriati in 1990 and 1991.

with AAP

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