Belinda Bencic (WTA 294) qualified for the round of 16 of the Australian Open. The St. Galloise, who dominated the Dutch Suzan Lamens (77) 6-1 7-6 (7/3) in the 2nd round, will meet former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka (51) on Friday.
Convincing in her first round against world number 22 Jelena Ostapenko, Belinda Bencic trembled as she finished against Suzan Lamens. She conceded the break while serving to win the match at 6-1 5-3, before missing two match points at 6-5 on the restart.
A great challenge
But the 2021 Olympic champion, who had dominated the proceedings in the first set with four successful breaks in four return games, did not miss her chance in the deciding game. She finally won in 1h40′ to sign her 14th success in 18 matches since her return to action last fall.
Guaranteed to gain some 100 additional places in the hierarchy thanks to this accession to the 3rd round, Bencic will therefore be entitled to a nice challenge on Friday. She leads 3-2 in her face-to-face with Osaka, still in search of an exploit since her return from maternity leave in January 2024.
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