Beatriz Haddad Maia became the first Brazilian woman to reach the top 10 of the WTA rankings Monday after her dream run to the French Open semifinals.
Haddad Maia, 27, beat Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur in the quarterfinals in Paris to become the first Brazilian woman in 55 years to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.
She was beaten by eventual champion Iga Swiatek.
Brazilian women’s tennis has had precious little success since the days of Maria Bueno, who won seven Grand Slam titles between 1959 and 1966 — long before the WTA rankings were introduced in 1975.
Three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten reached No. 1 in the men’s ATP rankings in 2000.
Haddad Maia will take a ranking of No. 10 into the grass-court season in which she impressed last year and will feature in this week’s Nottingham Open as buildup to Wimbledon begins.
Swiatek, who won her third career French Open title Saturday, and Aryna Sabalenka remained at Nos. 1-2 in the rankings, while Elena Rybakina and Caroline Garcia each moved up one spot to Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. American Jessica Pegula rounded out the top five.
Reuters contributed to this report.