Damien Kayat previews Beatriz Haddad Maia taking on Caroline Garcia in the selected match of the WTA Elite Trophy on the 27th of October 2023.
Beatriz Haddad Maia vs Caroline Garcia
2023 WTA Tour
WTA Elite Trophy
Hengqin Tennis Centre, Zhuhai, China (Outdoor Hardcourt)
Selected Match – 27th October
Camelia Group
Camelia Group has boiled won to a winner-take-all scenario after both these players easily brushed off Madison Keys. Haddad Maia has risen from the ashes over the past two seasons, overcoming injury and a doping suspension to become one of the most improved players in world tennis. Caroline Garcia, on the other hand, resurrected her career with a remarkable 2022 campaign. This season has been a wildly inconsistent for the Frenchwoman but her pure ball-striking power cannot be underestimated.
Beatriz Haddad Maia 11/10
As noted earlier, 27-year-old Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia looked like she would never fulfill her undoubted potential. A doping suspension and multiple injury layoffs seemed to have completely derailed her career. But winning back-to-back grass-court titles last season gave her career a shot of (clean) adrenalin.
Haddad Maia- who attempts to juggle both singles and doubles action- is yet to reach a final in this year’s calendar. But she has been pretty consistent, reaching the quarterfinal stage of seven events. This included her 2nd career WTA 1000 quarterfinal in Rome. But the highlight of her season was a barnstorming run to the semi-finals of the French Open. She once again showed her class with a 4th round retirement at the subsequent Wimbledon Championships.
The Brazilian’s form hasn’t really been the same since that unfortunate withdrawal (she was 5-7 between Wimbledon and this event). But she took advantage of a severely undercooked Madison Keys in her opener, recording an impressive 8th victory against a top 20 player this season. The Brazilian lefty is a really difficult player to contain when she’s on form.
She has a formidable serve and she isn’t afraid to use her double’s experience at the net. She just needs to rein in her worst attacking instincts to keep the unforced errors down. And the same can be said for her opponent.
Caroline Garcia 7/10
The Frenchwoman will be aiming to complete a rather strange double in this week’s event. She will be looking to win the WTA Elite Trophy a season after claiming the more prestigious WTA Finals title. Sure, this event may be one step down in the tennis totem pole.
But it would be a nice way for Garcia to finish what has been an underwhelming campaign. She looked like the most dangerous hardcourt player in the world during last year’s North American swing, winning the title in Cincinnati prior to a semi-final run at the US Open. She them took on all-comers to win the biggest title of her career at the season-ending championships. But things have simply not gone to plan for Garcia this year.
Her stats for the season have been buffered somewhat by runs to WTA 250 finals in Lyon and Monterrey. But she never went beyond the 4th round of a slam this year.
And she consistently underwhelmed at WTA 1000 level (which she managed to somewhat rectify with a recent semi-final run in Guadalajara). Garcia’s brand of first-strike tennis is always going to be prone to dips in form. She has been far too impatient this season, trying to hit her way into form without any plan B.
Her form has been pretty dreadful in recent weeks but you can never discount her. Garcia’s form can just click into gear instantaneously (just look at the end of last season). She looked excellent against Keys, beating the American for the first time in nearly ten years.
Verdict: Garcia to win in straight-sets at 24/10
This will be the first career meeting between these two. Garcia just has more gears than the Brazilian- especially on hardcourts. I expect her to go hard on return and I can she her destabilizing the occasionally erratic Haddad Maia delivery. I also think Garcia’s passing capability will me it hard for Haddad Maia to pressurize the net.
