Bia Haddad falls to Dutchwoman in Montreal debut

For Lamens, the victory is worth a spot in the third round of the WTA Montreal tournament (Bia debuted in the second round as a seed). She will next face China's Lin Zhu (#493, former top 40), who surprised and defeated Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova (#15) 1-6, 6-2 and 6-4.

How it happened

The match started evenly, but three double faults from Bia in the fifth game gave the Dutchwoman her first break of the match. Lamens, much more solid from the baseline, was up 4-2 when she held serve without any problems and scored another break after four more errors from the Brazilian in the seventh game. Bia still had two break points to return one of the breaks, but the Dutchwoman played flawlessly to save herself. After two more errors from the Brazilian, Lamens closed the set 6-2.

The European failed to maintain her level of play as the second set began, and Bia capitalized on a pair of errors from her opponent. After a great run to the net and a forehand cross-court winner, the Brazilian broke serve, opening up a 3-0 lead, and gaining confidence. The match changed radically, and Bia scored another break, going on the attack with a forehand that Lamens couldn't save. The Dutchwoman broke the sequence in the sixth game and even had chances to return one of the breaks, but Bia held serve, going 6-1, and forcing a third set.

The decisive set started evenly, with Lamens once again playing better and threatening Haddad Maia's serve. In the third game, the Dutchwoman wasted two break points by missing a backhand and then a forehand. Bia also saved a third break point with a forehand winner, making the score 2-2 shortly after.

In the eighth game, Lamens had two more chances to break the São Paulo native. In the first, she missed an easy forehand. In the second, however, the Brazilian missed a backhand and lost her serve. The Dutchwoman opened up a 5-3 lead and only needed to hold serve to close out the match, which she did.