World No. 18 Beatriz Haddad Maia lost to Russia’s Maria Timofeeva 6-3, 6-2 in straight sets Tuesday at the All England Club, exiting Wimbledon 2026 in the first round and stretching her season-long losing streak to eight matches.

Despite her ranking, Haddad Maia entered unseeded — Wimbledon’s grass-court criteria placed her outside the 32 seeded spots — and she could not impose her game against the 95th-ranked Timofeeva. The Russian controlled the match from start to finish.

Eighth straight defeat

The loss deepens a difficult stretch for the São Paulo native. Her last victory came at the WTA 125 in La Bisbal d’Empordà, Spain, in late April. A Wimbledon seeding would have required results that her 2026 season has not produced, despite a ranking that remains the highest ever held by a Brazilian female player.

Haddad Maia had reached the Roland Garros semifinals in 2023, her best Grand Slam result to date. The draw had projected Elise Mertens as a potential second-round opponent and second seed Elena Rybakina in the third round. The first-round exit closes out her Wimbledon campaign before those tests. Her next competitive opportunity will come later in the grass-court or hard-court swing as the season continues.