São Paulo Open 2026 — Beatriz Haddad Maia Interview and Final Rain Delay
The São Paulo Open final was supposed to belong to Nadia Podoroska and Kaitlin Quevedo.
Instead, for much of Sunday, the rain took over Parque Villa-Lobos.
The final had still not started roughly six hours after its scheduled time, leaving players, organizers and spectators waiting through a long and frustrating delay. Among those waiting from the grounds was one of the most recognizable names in Brazilian tennis: Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Her presence naturally raised another question.
Why was Brazil’s former Top 10 player sitting in the stands rather than playing the tournament herself?
The answer is that Haddad Maia has stepped away from competition to take care of both her physical and mental health, with surgery on her left shoulder scheduled for October 5.
For now, she is a spectator.
And on Sunday, she was prepared to remain one for as long as necessary.
“I want to thank everyone for the opportunity to be here. It is very special. I can watch the girls warm up for their match, and I’m going to spend the day here,” Haddad Maia told Sportv.
Given the weather, that turned into quite a commitment. The final has now been moved to Monday morning.
Haddad Maia Faces a Long Road Back
The shoulder operation means Haddad Maia is preparing for a lengthy rehabilitation period rather than another tournament run.
She has been trying to approach that interruption differently, filling some of the space left by tennis with activities far removed from the tour.
Ceramics, Pilates and dance classes have all become part of the routine.
“It is going to be a long process of progress and patience, so ceramics will help me not to become so anxious,” she said.
That remark perhaps says as much about the challenge ahead as any medical update could.
For an elite player accustomed to measuring progress in matches, rankings and results, recovery from surgery offers none of the same immediacy. The work is slower, less visible and impossible to rush.
Watching Brazil’s Players Has Not Been Relaxing
The break has not completely removed competitive tension from Haddad Maia’s life.
She admitted that following the São Paulo matches of friends and compatriots such as Carolina Meligeni Alves and Gabriela Cé had made her nervous from afar.
“We have to appreciate what they are doing. They are real fighters. If we look at our generation, how many girls our age ever had the chance to play a WTA 250? They are examples and inspirations for us too. I’m also very good friends with them.”
For Haddad Maia, that is part of what makes the São Paulo Open important beyond the result of one week.
The 2023 Roland Garros semifinalist believes having a WTA event in Brazil creates opportunities that extend well beyond the players already established on tour.
She pointed to the involvement of companies, the visibility created for younger players and the chance for Brazilian women to compete in front of a home crowd.
“Often we only get one chance to play in our own country. The more tournaments we have here, the greater the strength we are building.”
A Personal Connection to Podoroska
Whenever the rain finally allows Sunday’s final to begin, Haddad Maia already knows where her loyalties lie.
She will be supporting Nadia Podoroska against Kaitlin Quevedo.
The reason goes back almost a decade.
Haddad Maia recalled winning a tournament with Podoroska in 2017, when both were still young players making their way through smaller events in South America.
“Nadia is a very good friend of mine. We won a tournament together in 2017. We were still very young. It was a special week, here in South America, in Bogotá.”
Their friendship was built in the less glamorous corners of professional tennis: sharing rooms, sharing physiotherapists and helping each other through lower-level tournaments.
Haddad Maia even remembered one event in Australia, played for $25,000 in prize money on an island, where Podoroska taught her how to string a racket.
Those memories make Sunday’s final personal.
For Haddad Maia, though, there is also a bigger picture.
She cannot play in São Paulo this year. Surgery and rehabilitation come first.
But even while waiting through a rain delay from the sidelines, she remains deeply connected to what the tournament represents: more chances, more visibility and a stronger future for women’s tennis in Brazil.