NATIONAL BANK OPEN

August 11, 2022

Beatriz Haddad Maia

Press Conference

B. HADDAD MAIA/I. Swiatek

6-4, 3-6, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Strong performance today. Can you walk us through the match.

BEATRIZ HADDAD MAIA: Well, first of all, I'm happy and proud of myself and my team. It's a special moment. It's not always easy to beat the No. 1 in the world on a huge stage and against all the crowd.

And I think I passed through very tough moments through my career to live this moment. So I just want to enjoy a little bit. And the next few hours I don't want to think about my next match. But, yeah, I feel happy and, yeah, (laughing) that's all.

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions.

Q. Several players mentioned about the windy conditions today. I wonder, what did you do to overcome the windy conditions?

BEATRIZ HADDAD MAIA: Yeah, the weather conditions were not easy. Yeah, the wind it was changing sides also. So it's tricky to play in these moments. But I was trying to not think about it, because the wind is for both of us.

And I was always, I was also playing against Iga. And 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.

And, yeah, 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.

Q. You mentioned how this is such a special moment for you. This is your first quarterfinal for a WTA 1000 event. I'm just curious how a result like this can increase your confidence just going forward, not just this tournament but throughout your career.

BEATRIZ HADDAD MAIA: Yes, one of the goals that we set before traveling to this season was that, to be a top player, I need to improve my game and my level playing against the top players and in the big tournaments.

So I'm happy that I'm starting to play in a good level. I'm practicing at a good level, in a high level. So I know that what I do in the practice is what I'm going to do in the matches. And I work very hard, so I believe in myself.

And I know that it's very tough to come here and fight every single point. In the first round I could go back home because I won in three sets also. So it was very close, the match.

But, yeah, that makes me feel more confident because I know that I'm doing right things in my routine. It's not only about winning. It's something that I'm building in the last few years. So it's not one week, it's something that I'm building for long time.

Q. I wanted to ask you, there's not a lot of Brazilian players on tour having your great success. Do you use that as extra motivation or is that more pressure on you? And what does this like your success mean for tennis in Brazil in general?

BEATRIZ HADDAD MAIA: Yeah, that's a good question. It's always tricky because sometimes people expect too much about me. And if I see, like a girl, a tennis player who has the same ranking and the same career, for example, she's just one more player in America, in Canada, in France, in wherever it is.

So sometimes they expect too much about me. They expect me to be as Guga. And it's not easy to deal with. Because they have soccer, we have big media also.

So one of the things I try to do is to not use a lot my social media. Because it's something that I don't, when I'm living outside of the real life, sometimes I get out from the present and I start to think about the others. And I don't like and I don't agree a lot with that.

So I have my Instagram, but I try to manage. And I try to have a mental, healthy mentality to, yeah, just live the present. To enjoy with the people who are around me, my family, my friends.

And, yeah, for sure it's special to be Brazilian. And I know there is a lot of nice people cheering for me as well. So it's very nice to, as a woman, to show on television not only soccer.

So I feel more like proud of myself to show people, to show the children that they can do it as well. Than thinking about just me. You know, it's something, yeah, it's special.

Q. What does this mean, this win mean for you? It's your third top-10 win. Obviously though it's the world No. 1 and one that hadn't lost on a hard court since February. So it's, from the outside, to us it looks like a big win, but how does it feel for you?

BEATRIZ HADDAD MAIA: For sure it feels special. As I said a few minutes before, I had a lot of tough moments in my career. I have already four surgeries. And I'm only 26 years old.

So when I have special moments I try to enjoy. 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.

So, yeah, I feel proud of myself, of my team, of my family. And, yeah, I'll just try to enjoy it. I don't know (laughing) I'm happy.

Q. You mentioned the other day 25Ks, playing quallies at that level and building things back up. Can you remember during the time, probably I guess this year maybe last year, that you felt like this was attainable? Like being a top potentially 20 player, being a beating world No. 1, beating top-10 players, at what point did it click for you that that quallies life was not, that you had passed it?

BEATRIZ HADDAD MAIA: Yeah, when we play juniors we can have an idea about the level. Because I played juniors, I had this opportunity. So I remember that I played like Siniakova, Krejcikova, Bencic, Ostapenko, like the girls from my age.

And I had a few moments that I had to stop. But I was watching. And I knew that tennis sometimes, you don't lose the tennis, it's the mentality. So I know that top players are very aggressive.

And I was, Okay, I don't have points, I don't have ranking. I will start again and let's see what can I do. So my first goal was, the truth is that the first goal was to be top 100. I believed that I could be top 100 because I was there, I was 58 in the world in 2017.

But it's starting from zero, it's much more difficult. Because when you go to 25Ks and you play against like players who are 1000 in the world, 800 in the world, everything that they made, that they make is good against ex-top-100 player. So the pressure was always on me.

And when I start to realize that, Okay, I need to improve that. I need a coach. I need something. I need sponsor. And I was just trying to, Okay, now I need that. I need that. I was trying to organize my life.

So after a few months I was 400. And then I met again Rafa, my coach. And then it changed a lot. We set goals. We said, Okay, we are here. We want to be top 100. Let's see what we need to do.

And when we reached the top 100 we said for top 50. And then it was faster than what we expected. We were in the top 40. And then top 30.

So we don't know the limit. We just set goals. And my next goal is to be top 20. And I will work very hard for that. But I cannot say more. What can I do?

Q. How much confidence did you get from the amazing tennis that you played on the grass courts those couple titles that you had back-to-back. And you mentioned Guga. What sort of relationship do you have with Guga?

BEATRIZ HADDAD MAIA: Yeah, Guga, now days I don't talk to him a lot. He's not like inside of like the pro circuit. I think he has now, like I think he has a daughter and a son. He is living in the south of Brazil. I live in Sao Paulo.

But for sure he's an inspiration for me. He used to practice with Larri Passos who coached me a few years ago as well.

So he's a very nice person for all the Brazilians. He's an inspiration.

And about the confidence from the grass season. I think the grass gave me the, like the click that my tennis would need to be aggressive. So on grass you don't think a lot because you don't have time. So I was very decided when I was playing.

And that makes me feel like stronger. Because I know that I have like great shots, I have good serve, I have good forehand. So if I do what I need to do I can create opportunities.

And if I expect the opponent or if I just push the ball, I won't have chances.

So it was just a click that, Okay, now I need to be aggressive. And that turned the page to, yeah, set the next goals for my game.