Haddad Maia beats Iga Swiatek to reach Toronto quarterfinals

TORONTO: Beatriz Haddad Maia continued her outstanding form and winning run at the National Bank Open as she defeated World No.1 Iga Swiatek in the Round of 16 to reach the quarterfinals.

With this win, the 26-year-old became the first Brazilian woman to advance to the quarterfinal stage of a WTA 1000 tournament.

The win was Haddad Maia's first win over a World Number one 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

In the match, Haddad Maia hit just 12 unforced errors over the course of the lengthy match, an outstanding number in the calm conditions she faced against Swiatek. Haddad Maia also smashed 23 winners.

Swiatek concluded the match with 33 winners to 28 unforced errors. "I had a lot of tough moments in my career," WTA quoted Haddad Maia as saying. "I have already had four surgeries and I'm only 26 years old. So when I have special moments I try to enjoy them. Because sometimes we think, Oh, no, I'm not that happy. I'm not that, I don't think about winning But the truth is that I work for like 15 years to live this moment, to live this dream that I worked a lot," she added.

"I knew that I had to play my best tennis. And also she could beat me, even if I was playing well. So I was trying to play every single point without excuse. I was trying to forget about what I did wrong, about the mistakes, and just go for it. I was just trying to live in the present. To play point by point," Haddad Maia said.

"The weather conditions we don't control, we can't control. So it's not something that I can manage. So I need to deal with. And, yeah, I think I did a good mental job," said the 26-year-old.