After a long wait due to two days of heavy rain in Melbourne, in addition to the long games that were predicted for her court, Beatriz Haddad Maia will finally have the possibility of debuting at the Australian Open. Bia’s match, number 14 in the world, against the Spanish Nuria Parrizas Diaz, ranked 75th, was transferred to court 15 and will start at 6:30 am (Brasilia time) this Wednesday.
The game was initially due to take place in the early hours of Tuesday, which had the schedule hampered by both extreme heat and rain. Already this Wednesday, it rained again, which further delayed the round on the external courts. Furthermore, the match between John Isner and Adrian Mannarino, which would precede Bia’s debut on Court 3, already had two tiebreaks, each one won by a player. That way, there would be at least two more waiting sets.
If she surpasses her debut, Bia will face Anastasia Potapova, a 21-year-old Russian and 44th in the ranking, who defeated the American Sloane Stephens, former top 3 and current 39th in the ranking, by 7/6 (7-2) and 6 /4. This was Stepehens’ third straight elimination in a debut this year, repeating what had happened in Auckland and Hobart
