Beatriz Haddad Maia reached her biggest goal for the final leg of the current season. This Monday, Brazil’s No. 1 tennis player was once again in the top 100 of the WTA rankings, a event not held since September 2019. At the time, she was already serving a suspension for doping. The punishment also dropped the athlete to 1339th and last place on the list.
She climbed 21 places and is now at 94th position. And, as there are still more tournaments to go, Biya should finish 2021 and move on, and could even return to the top 80. Her best position is 58, achieved in 2017, a season in which she achieved her best result to date.
The tennis player stood out in the ranking update for the great week played at the WTA 1000 in Indian Wells, United States. She achieved Brazil’s biggest win in the Open Tennis era, which began in 1968 by defeating Czech Karolina Pliskova in the third round. Pliskova was world number three, seed number 1 and the current Wimbledon runner-up.
The return to the top 100 confirms the rise of the tennis player, who was absent from the court for 13 months, 10 due to suspension and the other three due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Upon his return to the tournament, he was discovered to have a benign tumor on the middle finger of his left hand, which he played with, and had to take another three months off the circuit.
Bea makes the second best season of her career. This adds 5 titles in 2021, at the ITF level, just below the WTA, with about 80% utilization in general. He is one of the top 250-game wins in the year with 66 wins, his record for a season.
Apart from Bea, Luisa Stefani also moved up the rankings despite being off the court due to injury. The doubles specialist jumped to 11th place in doubles, just one point away from breaking into the coveted top 10. This is the best position for the Brazilian, who is recovering from a tear in the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee. He is not expected to return to the circuit until the second quarter of 2022.
FEDERER FALLING – Sidelined due to new surgery on his right knee, Roger Federer left the top 10 for the first time in five years in Monday’s update. The Swiss have dropped two places to 11th, and should lose more places, especially after the end of the changes implemented in the rankings due to the pandemic.
Federer could also drop out of the top 30, which would keep him from being seeded at Grand Slams. The Swiss still do not know when he will return to the circuit. This year, he played only 13 games without reaching the final. His last game was the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
The sharp drop in the rankings must also be because the 40-year-old tennis player was practically not there in 2020. He only entered the court at the Australian Open. After that he had two surgeries on his right knee.
Federer entered the top 10 for the first time in his career in May 2002. And he had left this short list only twice, before this Monday: between July and October 2002 and between November 2016 and January 2017, when he also needed an off circuit for surgery.
The top four places in the rankings remained unchanged, with Serbian Novak Djokovic leading, followed by Russian Daniil Medvedev, Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas and German Alexander Zverev. Spain’s Rafael Nadal has moved up from injury to fifth place, leaving Russia’s Andre Rublev in sixth place.
Next come Italian Matteo Berrettini and Austrian Dominic Thiem. In ninth place is Norwegian Kasper Rudd, who took one place. Polish Hubert Herkaz ranked in the top 10. Indian Wells champion, on Sunday, British Cameron Norie climbed 10 places to 16th. The best Brazilian in the ranking is Thiago Monteiro, who maintained the 92nd position.
