‘Just extraordinary’  – Tennis ace plays despite being in agony and has to serve underarm because of little-known rule

BEATRIZ HADDAD MAIA was forced to serve underarm while in agony during day one of the 2025 tennis season.

The new campaign got underway Down Under this week with countries doing battle in the United Cup.

Brazil took on China in Perth, with Haddad Maia up against Gao Xinyu first up.

Ranked 158 places above her opponent at No.17, the Brazilian went into the match as heavy favourite.

But the contest, as so many of Haddad Maia’s do, descended into a three-set war of attrition.

The 28-year-old had pinched the first set 7-5, before Gao won the second 6-4 to level the match.

During the third set, Haddad Maia began cramping severely.

In the eighth game, and leading 4-3, she struggled so badly with the pain that she could not serve overarm.

At one point she attempted to go into her usual service motion, only for the pain to be too strong.

As cramp is considered a conditioning issue rather than an injury, a player cannot take a medical timeout.

So Haddad Maia was forced to soldier on before being treated at the change of ends, eventually dropping the game to be broken back for 4-4.

Gao, 27, was also struggling physically and wore strapping around her left knee.

Eventually she was able to take the match 7-5 in the third set after three hours and 22 minutes – the longest women’s match ever played at the United Cup.

Haddad Maia has developed a reputation for being involved in marathon matches.

Per tennis author Bastien Fachan, this was her 15th match to take three hours or longer since 2022.

With Haddad Maia having lost to Gao – who only played due to Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen’s withdrawal – Thiago Monteiro was faced with having to beat Zhang Zhizhen in order to keep the tie alive for Brazil.

The match was a far cry from the first, but finished with the same outcome, as Chinese star Zhang defeated Monteiro 6-3 6-0 in just 56 minutes to seal the tie.

As the United Cup follows a round robin format, the dead rubber doubles match was still played for potential tie-breaker purposes down the road.

China made it a clean sweep, with Zhang teaming up with Zhang Shuai, no relation, to defeat Carolina Alves and Rafael Matos 6-4 7-5 in one hour and 18 minutes in the mixed doubles.

Brazil are set to be back in action tomorrow against Germany.

It remains to be seen whether Haddad Maia will be able to take to the court following her bruising encounter with Gao.

China, meanwhile, will face Germany in Monday’s night session.