Belinda Bencic’s debut at Wimbledon 2023 didn’t impress, with the 95 minutes against Katy Swan (WTA 147) revealing room for improvement. But what mattered to the 26-year-old: For the first time since 2019, she survived the first round on “Church Street.” She avoided the starting hurdle in the next Grand Slam event after the French Open.
Since Paris at the end of May, the Eastern team has taken a break to recover from physical injuries and competed on the lawn in London without any match training. She immediately needed some time in order to warm up against the Briton, who was a wildcard. World No. 14 traded against Swan, who was only able to win 1 match in 5 attempts at Wimbledon (2018), breaking a deficit to 2:3.
After leading 4: 2, there was another test
But Bencic was able to respond immediately, breaking through the next serve in the game and equalizing 3: 3. After 54 minutes, the 24-year-old from Bristol was broken again, which equaled the loss of the first set.
Test kept convulsing. This time, the 2021 Tokyo Olympic champion made a break to make it 4-2 thanks to a powerful backhand double. However, in the next service game, everything was asked of Bencic again. She had two break opportunities and only managed a 5:2 after 13 rallies.
But now the resistance of the local hero was broken. After the well-deserved opening victory with a score of 7: 5, 6: 2, the relief of the Swiss was clearly noticeable. And it has given everything in regards to its physical construction sites.
Her next competition is yet to be decided, but she will certainly be in the top 60 in the world – Bencic will have to improve accordingly. Danielle Collins (USA/WTA 52) and Julia Graber (AUT/WTA 58) battle it out for a date with the Swiss. With a score of 6: 4 after the first set in favor of the American, the match had to be postponed due to darkness.
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