Beatriz Haddad Maia wins 2022 Birmingham Tennis Classic as Zhang retires

Beatriz Haddad Maia and Shuai Zhang lifted the Nottingham doubles trophy last week together and today they played in the final of Birmingham with the Chinese player unable to finish the match.

The two friends had a lot of success with each other last week and have played spectacular tennis this week as well. Due to the rain delay yesterday, both needed to play two matches today and after winning tricky matches earlier today, one was not able to finish. It's the older Zhang who simply did not play well at all and after calling for the physio she opted to retire the match.

There was an issue either with her neck or her back that left were unable to play the way she wanted and with Wimbledon around the corner, she did not want to risk it. Haddad Maia wins a trophy for the 2nd week in a row but this is probably not the way she wanted to win it, let alone against a friend.

Nonetheless, it's been a crowning moment for her grass season so far as she's 10-0 with two trophies. It's part of a wider storyline about her spectacular comeback to the top of tennis after dropping very low on the rankings as well. What a year for the Brazilian and what a two weeks on grass. Sensational!