Beatriz Haddad Maia becomes the first player since Serena Williams to win 11 consecutive matches on grass

Beatriz Haddad Maia emulated a Serena Williams landmark on Tuesday. She beat Estonia's Kaia Kanepi in three sets to become the first player since Williams (2018) to notch up 11 consecutive wins on grass.

The Brazilian left-hander beat Alison Riske to win the Nottingham Open on June 12. She also won the doubles title that week with Shuai Zhang. A week later, the 26-year-old beat Zhang to win the Birmingham Classic. She has now beaten her Roland Garros second-round conqueror Kanepi to extend her win streak on grass to 11 matches.

Haddad Maia will now look to continue her winning run on Wednesday as she seeks to reach three consecutive quarterfinals.

Serena Williams went 20 matches unbeaten on grass, sweeping up titles at Wimbledon in 2015 and 2016, before she was beaten by Angelique Kerber in the 2018 title match.

The 40-year-old is now all set to make her 21st appearance at the grasscourt Major next week, exactly a year after retiring from the first round with an ankle injury.

Meanwhile, Haiddad Maia needs to win Eastbourne this week and reach the Wimbledon semis to emulate Williams' mark of 20 consecutive wins on grass.

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Serena Williams to return to action at Eastbourne this week

Serena Williams is set to return to action this week.

Following her first-round loss to Aliaksandra Sasnovich at Wimbledon last year, Serena Williams hasn't played a competitive match. This has seen her plummet to below 1200 in the WTA singles rankings.

The American recently announced her return to action, albeit in doubles with Ons Jabeur, at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne. The unseeded pair is slated to take on Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova later tonight for a place in the quarterfinals.

Her fellow WTA players have welcomed her return to the tour. Jabeur, Serena Williams' doubles partner at Eastbourne, opined that 'someone should stop Iga Swiatek', who's on a 35-match winning streak.

"I hope she (draws) Iga. At least someone should stop Iga a little bit," Jabeur said.

Eastbourne singles top seed Paula Badosa chimed in, saying she wants to avoid playing the returning Williams if possible.

"Of course I don't want to play against her. I hope the draw goes for another player, because of course no one wants to play against Serena and less on grass. So let's pray for that," Badosa said.

Wimbledon 2021 runner-up Karolina Pliskova added that many players will be wary of facing Williams.

"She’s an amazing player, and she has achieved so much. I think a number of players will be super scared to play her (despite her prolonged absence from tour)," Pliskova said.

It remains to be seen how Williams fares in Eastbourne ahead of her 21st appearance at Wimbledon next week, where she'll seek her eighth singles title.