From Doping Ban To Top 10: Who Is Beatriz Haddad Maia

| by Kadir Macar

Beatriz Haddad Maia will break into the Top 10 in singles on the WTA Tour for the first time in her career.

Once a young tennis player making her mark on the courts of Brazil, the 27-year-old has finally risen through the ranks to make a Top 10 debut. Her journey, however, has been far from smooth. From an impactful doping ban to a stunning resurgence, Haddad Maia's story is a testament to her resilience.

Born in São Paulo in 1996, Haddad Maia grew up in a family of tennis enthusiasts of Lebanese descent. Her mother and grandmother were successful tennis players in Brazil, so she was clearly destined to make an impact on the WTA Tour.

Haddad Maia began her professional tennis career in 2014, but her talent was evident from an early age. Her junior career was marked by impressive performances, including reaching the Roland Garros doubles finals twice.

But her ascent in the tennis world was abruptly halted in July 2019. Haddad Maia was handed a ten-month ban from tennis after testing positive for the anabolic steroids SARM S-22 and SARM LGD-4033.

These substances were found in a urine sample she provided during the WTA Croatia Bol Open in June 2019. The ITF accepted Haddad Maia's explanation of how these substances entered her system and concluded that she bore no significant fault or negligence for her violation.

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Despite the setback, Haddad Maia made an impressive comeback. After her ban, she resumed her journey with renewed vigor, climbing the WTA Rankings. She proved her qualities by reaching the semifinals of the 2023 Roland Garros, which catapulted her to the 10th spot in the WTA Rankings, marking her debut in the Top 10.

But Haddad Maia's career wasn't marked only by the doping ban but also by injuries which halted her rise. At the Roland Garros, she spoke also about that, saying that those were tough moments in her career.

"Well, I think four surgeries are not easy, yeah, to come back. I had tough moments in my career. Also a part of the surgeries I had two bones that I broke in the back and the shoulder that I had to stop again."

Having to stop and then return to the competitive action is never easy, and that's something that the Brazilian had to do multiple times throughout her career.

"So for the body I had to stop six or seven times in my career for months and starting again. Also, I was one year out from the tour, so it's not easy to keep the level and improve the tennis when we are always, like, coming back."

Haddad Maia also talked about differences between playing lower-tier events and WTA-level tournaments, which differ in quality. But for the Brazilian, it was a springboard to better results and building her game.

"Also, the level that you play. When you play futures and challenger tournaments, you have different level of tennis as well, so you need to build your mentality, your tennis. I was, yeah, consolidating myself in these levels, and I had to fight a lot to be here, to build my game. Also, I think my team works very hard, and they are young people who dreams the same thing as me. So I think that's why we are now having our best moments."

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