Belinda Bencic (27 years old) came close to the feat, before being brought back to reality. Opposed to Coco Gauff, world No. 3, in the round of 16 of the Australian Open, the Saint-Galloise was consistent enough to win the first set. But she then suffered the reaction of her opponent, ultimately winning 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.
Returning to competition at the end of October, after giving birth to her daughter Bella, Bencic faced her biggest test in a year and a half and her elimination at Wimbledon in the round of 16 by world No. 1 Iga Swiatek. This result shows her the path that still separates her from the best, while allowing her to see that she has regained a very high competitive level. Promising for the future.
The Swiss, number 294 in the current WTA rankings, achieved the feat of achieving a double break in a tight first set, which fell into her hands. At that moment, did an ounce of doubt settle into Coco Gauff’s head? Only she knows. The fact remains that the American with two Grand Slam titles (Roland-Garros 2022 and US Open 2023) raised her voice and left only crumbs to her rival, unable to create the slightest break point during the two rounds. following. Less sovereign in the exercise, Bencic also conceded four times. Summary of the accounts: where the first set lasted 1h03, the other two were evacuated in 39 and 47 minutes.
-Despite this defeat, the young mother has a solid tally of 14 victories in 19 matches – including the Billie Jean King Cup – since her return to the circuit. After successively eliminating the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko (22nd), the Dutch Suzan Lamens (77th) and the Japanese Naomi Osaka (51st), by forfeit, she equaled her best run in Melbourne. In 2016 and 2023, her path had already stopped in the round of 16, against world No. 5 Maria Sharapova and Aryna Sabalenka.
Ultimate satisfaction: the next update of the WTA rankings, Bencic will be ranked 156th. That’s a spectacular jump of 138 places. As a reminder, she was 1447th last October.
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