WHAT HAPPENED: Beatriz Haddad Maia tapped into the soccer stadium atmosphere that her fellow Brazilians provided in the stands on her way to a quarterfinal appearance at the US Open last year, and the fans brought more of the samba magic to Court 12 to help the world No. 22 to a tough first-set victory.
Toward the end of the match, it looked as if neither Haddad Maia nor her opponent would make it to the finish line.
Haddad Maia recovered from a lackluster second set and raced to a 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 victory over Sonay Kartal of Great Britain in the first round of the 2025 US Open. The win also marks a little bit of revenge for Haddad Maia, as Kartal routed the Brazilian 6-2, 6-1, in the round of 64 at Indian Wells earlier this year.
After being routed in the second set and taking a bathroom break afterward, Haddad Maia, navigated a tough hold at 30 for a 1-0 lead. During the changeover, the Brazilian fans were at their loudest since the start of the match, with the “Ole! Ole! Ole! Ola! … Beaaa! Beaaa!” chant ringing out as Haddad Maia continued to pump her fist at the chair before sprinting out onto the court.
Haddad Maia then sprinted out to a 4-0 lead, and the match appeared effectively over after Kartal hunched over a few times after points and appeared to be feeling the effects of the heat.
Then, during the fifth game, Haddad Maia looked at her coaches’ box with concern and started to walk gingerly in between points. She took a time violation warning during the game, and on her next few serves, Haddad Maia barely bent her knees and was almost completely upright when finishing her service motion.
Kartal broke Haddad Maia for 1-4, then employed a couple of drop shots in the next game to test her opponent. Remarkably, Haddad Maia not only reached those balls while running gingerly, but won both points with winners at the net on her way to breaking back for 5-1.
It appeared what was bothering Haddad Maia came back in the final game, as she lost two match points and also incorporated an underarm serve in a point that Kartal won to set up a break point. But Haddad Maia saved the break, and toughed out the final two points to advance to Round 2.
WHAT IT MEANS: No player outside of the Top 10 may have more pressure on her heading into the US Open than Haddad Maia. Her record in 2025 coming into Tuesday was 10-23, yet still maintains a world ranking hovering around the Top 20 because of her quarterfinal showing in Flushing Meadows last year. Those points come off the books after this tournament, so anything short of a repeat appearance in the final eight may see her ranking plummet.
MATCH POINT: It took just 20 minutes for Haddad Maia to win as many games on Tuesday (3) as she did when she was routed by Kartal at Indian Wells.
With No. 12 seed Elina Svitolina knocked out of the tournament after her loss yesterday, there is opportunity for Haddad Maia to make a run in her quarter. She’ll face the winner of surprise 2025 Roland Garros semifinalist Lois Boisson or Viktorija Golubic in the second round. Then the winner of that will meet another unseeded player—2021 US Open semifinalist Maria Sakkari or Anna Bondar (who beat Svitlona)—in the third round.
