Trailblazing Beatriz Haddad Maia named GQ Brazil's "Woman of the Year"

It’s been a historic 2023 season for Beatriz Haddad Maia, who claimed her biggest title to date at the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai and reached the semifinals at Roland Garros—a Grand Slam feat that had never been accomplished by a Brazilian woman in the Open Era.

The results propelled the 27-year-old Sao Paulo native into the WTA’s Top 10 for the first time—she currently sits at No. 11, the highest year-end ranking of her career—and marked another trailblazing milestone for Brazilian women’s tennis. It also caused the sport to explode into mainstream consciousness back home, mobilizing an army of new tennis fans—a cultural impact recognized by GQ Brazil, who named Haddad Maia “Woman of the Year” in the magazine’s annual “Men of the Year” issue.

“At each stage, I consolidated myself, and I started to feel confident about moving up to the next stage,” Haddad Maia tells GQ’s Ana Beatriz Gonçalves. “I never wanted to skip over barriers.”

Styled by Leo Bronks and photographed by Pedro Dimitrow, Haddad Maia appears on the cover wearing head-to-toe Louis Vuitton as she strikes a strong and defiant pose with red clay slipping between her fingers reminiscent of sand in an hourglass.

Perhaps it’s a reference to the late bloomer’s race against the metaphorical clock after being sidelined by various injuries and surgeries, as well as “the most destabilizing moment” of Haddad Maia’s career: a 10-month suspension following a failed doping test in 2019. The trace amounts of two banned anabolic agents known as selective androgen receptor modulators found in Haddad Maia’s system were later determined to be the result of a cross-contaminated vitamin supplement.

But all the time away from the game only left Haddad Maia even hungrier, as she revealed to GQ that her professional career has a strict expiration date:

“I want to be a mom. So I plan to compete for another decade,” she said. “Motherhood is a dream and it will directly affect the retirement decision.”

Haddad Maia joins a high-profile list of GQ’s Women of the Year, with entrepreneur and socialite Kim Kardashian landing the title on the American edition and World Cup hero Jenni Hermoso taking center stage in Spain.

Former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova was previously named GQ’s Woman of the Year in 2004 while 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams also took the honor in 2018.

No. 11 Haddad Maia will kick off the 2024 season at the United Cup, where she will join teammates Marcelo Melo, Thiago Seyboth Wild, Felipe Meligeni Alves and Carolina Alves in Perth. Team Brazil landed in Group A along with Spain and No. 1 seed Poland, with the 18-team competition starting on December 29.