Keystone
Belinda Bencic reaches the 3rd round at the Australian Open. In her second outing, she beat Suzan Lamens (WTA 77) from the Netherlands 6:1, 7:6 (7:3) in 102 minutes.
The 27-year-old Swiss was the first to take the fast lane in Melbourne on Wednesday. Eight women’s matches were scheduled in the first stage of the fourth day of the tournament at 11 a.m. local time. Due to rain, the start of play on the (uncovered) outdoor court number 6 was delayed by three quarters of an hour. Belinda Bencic’s match started after all the others. For a long time, it looked as if Bencic would be the first to progress.
But then the task became tricky. Belinda Bencic (WTA 294) led 6:1, 3:0 after 40 minutes. Suzan Lamens (WTA 77), who had won the tournament in Osaka in the fall, had not yet managed a service game up to this point. Then the Dutchwoman successfully began to take more risks. She found her way back into the match. She twice came back from a break behind, managed to equalize and saved herself in the tie-break despite two match points from Bencic. In this, Bencic clearly prevailed 7:3.
In the third round on Friday, “Mama Belinda” cannot afford to take a time-out like she did in the second set against Lamens. The 27-year-old Swiss will face the number 20 seeded 28-year-old Czech Karolina Muchova or the Japanese Naomi Osaka, who won four Grand Slam tournaments and topped the world rankings until four years ago, before also becoming a mother a year before Bencic.
Swiss
