"Fighting bravely in these very hard times" - Beatriz Haddad Maia dedicates Italian Open 2R victory to victims of Rio Grande do Sul flooding in Brazil

Beatriz Haddad Maia dedicated her victory over Wang Xinyu in the second round of the 2024 Italian Open to the victims of the devastating floods in Rio Grande do Sul. The heavy rainfall in the Brazilian city, which began on April 29, has left hundreds of thousands homeless and resulted in several deaths, with many people still missing.

In just her second appearance at the Italian Open, the Brazilian defeated Wang Xinyu with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday to advance to the third round of the tournament. At last year's edition, she reached the quarterfinals before being eliminated by Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina.

Shortly after her match against the Chinese player, Haddad Maia took to her Instagram story to express sympathy for the flood victims and shared information about trusted institutions for those willing to contribute to relief efforts.

“I'd like to dedicate today's victory to the people of Rio Grande do Sul. They are fighting bravely in these very hard and sensible times. My thoughts and profound empathy are with all of you. To those who can collaborate with them here are a few photos of some of the institutions I really trust and and am helping at the moment. Much love, Bia” she posted

Beatriz Haddad Maia is yet to win a WTA 1000 title. Her closest brush with victory came in the 2022 Canadian Open final, where she fell to Romanian star Simona Halep.

Beatriz Haddad Maia is set to face Madison Keys in the third round of the Italian Open

Beatriz Haddad Maia at the San Diego Open

Haddad Maia will face 18th-seeded American Madison Keys in the third round of the 2024 Italian Open. Keys booked her place in the Round of 32 of the WTA 1000 event with a 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 win over Camila Osorio in the second round.

This will be the second meeting between the two on the WTA tour. Their first encounter was in the group stage of the 2023 WTA Elite Trophy, where Haddad Maia got the better of Keys in straight sets.

Whoever out of the two comes out on top, will play either Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova or 28th seed Sorana Cirstea in the fourth round of the Italian Open.

Haddad Maia has won 14 out of 26 matches so far in 2024, with her best performance being reaching the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open.

About the author

Joseph is a Tennis journalist at Sportskeeda with over 4 years of experience in sports journalism. He holds a Law degree, but became a sports journalist out of his love for sports.

Joseph follows genuine pages on social media platforms, and verifies information via multiple sources to ensure accuracy in his articles. To stay up to date with the latest developments in the sport, he follows the WTA and ATP closely. His methods have helped him garner over 1.6 million views in just seven months at Sportskeeda.

He's a die-hard fan of Novak Djokovic, admiring not only his exceptional on-court skills, but also his off-court persona. For Joseph, the Serb is also the rightful recipient of the ‘GOAT’ tag and credits his achievement of 24 Grand Slam titles and reign of 422 weeks as World No.1.

The British culture and strict uniformity at the Wimbledon Championships make the event his favorite on the tennis calendar. Outside of tennis, Joseph passionately supports Manchester United and considers Lionel Messi the greatest sportsman of all time. In his leisure time, he enjoys expanding his horizons with documentaries, particularly those focusing on politics.

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Edited by Neelabhra Roy