Beatriz Haddad Maia Defeats Zheng Qinwen to Win WTA Elite Trophy

Beatriz Haddad Maia has another title under her belt…

The 27-year-old Brazilian professional tennis player has claimed her third career WTA tour title by defeating seventh-seeded Zheng Qinwen 7-6 (11), 7-6 (4) to win the WTA Elite Trophy on Sunday.

Beatriz Haddad MaiaHaddad Maia, the eighth seed, needed 2 hours, 51 minutes to edge past Zheng in a tight battle, which ended the top Chinese player’s win streak at eight matches.

The 19th-ranked Haddad Maia maintained her perfect record this week with her fourth consecutive straight-sets victory. Her semifinal win over 17th-ranked Daria Kasatkina followed her opening upset victory over second-seeded Madison Keys and then Caroline Garcia to win the group.

It’s Haddad Maia’s first title on hard courts and first since Birmingham in 2022.

Her performance in Zhuhai was a welcome return to form for the 2023 French Open semifinalist who had only one win in three previous tournaments as part of the tour’s Asia swing.

Zheng, who won the Zhengzhou Open this month and the gold medal at the Asian Games in September, was just the second Chinese player to make the final of the WTA Elite Trophy after Wang Qiang finished runner-up to former world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in 2018.

The 12-player tournament was the first postseason event on the women’s tour. It featured the 11 highest-ranked singles players who did not qualify for next month’s WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico. Zhu Lin, whom Zheng beat in the semifinals, was the final entry as a wild card.

Monica Puig Stuns Caroline Wozniacki in Straight Sets to Reach the Wuhan Open Quarterfinals

Monica Puig has done it again…

The 25-year-old Puerto Rican tennis player stunned No.2 seed Caroline Wozniacki for the second time this year in the third round of the Wuhan Open, pounding her way into the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (10), 7-5 win in two hours and 24 minutes.

Monica Puig

Though Puig had trailed Wozniacki 2-3 in the overall head-to-head before today, she had scored a memorable upset in their most recent meeting, coming from a bagel set down to defeat the Australian Openchampion 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the Miami Open. Puig also came into today’s match in strong form, having won 13 of her past 16 matches – including a semifinal showing in New Haven and a quarterfinal berth in Québec City.

“I feel like we’ve played each other several times now,” Puig said. “I think Wozniacki is maybe one of the only players I’ve played so frequently against on the tour. We definitely have had our fair share of battles throughout the times that we’ve played.

“We both know each other’s game very well… I just had to try to stay focused and be really aggressive on those certain key points that I wasn’t today at some times, but I was happy I was able to get it out.”

With the win, Puig, who scored 37 winners during the match, has progressed to the first Premier 5 quarterfinal of her career.

“That’s the one thing I’m trying to work on with my team as much as possible: no matter what’s going on in the match, just continue like if nothing ever happened,” Puig said of seeing several match points come and go. “That’s not always easy, especially in moments where you want to really pull your hair out.

“Honestly, on the match points that I had, I thought she played really aggressive. She really took it to me. But whenever I lost those points, would go back and go, ‘There’s another point to play, still tennis left to be played. Don’t get caught up in that one point because that one point, either you’re going to let it dictate the rest of the match or you’re going to put it in the past and move forward.’”

In the quarterfinals, Puig – who sealed the fifth consecutive Centre Court match in which the lower-ranked player emerged the victor in Wuhan today – will face home favorite Wang Qiangin an all-unseeded battle.

“I don’t think I’ve played [Wang] in a tournament, but we have practiced against each other,” Puig said. “She’s a very nice girl. I have a lot of respect for her, especially with what she’s been doing in the past couple weeks. She won last week in Guangzhou.

“Just practicing with her, she hits a big ball. She can do whatever she wants with the ball if you give her the opportunity. She’s definitely going to be a tough test for me, especially her playing at home, she’s going to have the home-court advantage.

“I’m just looking forward to getting out there and continuing to play. I’m having a lot of fun right now. Tomorrow is my birthday, but I just want to enjoy it as much as possible.”