Belinca Bencic scores impressive win on her comeback trail

11/06/2024 05:38 AM

Six and a half months after giving birth to her first child, a daughter, Bella, Belinda Bencic is back on the court! The former world no. 4 took a break from tennis between September last year and this October. Belinda scored a win at last week's W75 event in Hamburg and delivered another at the W75 Petange tournament on Tuesday. Bencic faced the former world no. 15 Aravane Rezai in the first round and scored a dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory in an hour and six minutes.

Belinda will need some time to get back to the desired level after skipping 13 months. She hit eight double faults against Rezai, although it did not threaten her triumph. The Swiss outplayed her opponent behind the first and second serve, losing serve two times and mounting the pressure on the other side. Aravane could not follow that pace, giving away 64% of the points in her games and experiencing seven breaks from nine chances offered to her opponent. Belinda embraced a streak of seven consecutive games, outplaying the 37-year-old from the baseline and sailing into the second round.

The Swiss drew an error from the French player in the first game of the encounter for an early break. Belinda held at 30 in the second game to cement the lead and climbed back from 0-40 in the next one to notch another break and extend the gap. Bencic closed the fourth game with a backhand down the line winner and generated another break chance at 4-0. Aravane denied it with a winner and held, adding her name to the scoreboard. Bencic hit a double fault in the sixth game, losing serve and allowing her opponent to pull one break back. Bencic made another push on the return in the seventh game, drawing Rezai's mistake and securing her third break. The Swiss served for the opener at 5-2 and landed a forehand winner to wrap it up in style and gather a boost.

Aravane hit a double fault in the first game of the second set, losing serve and extending her downfall. Bencic closed the second game with a service winner and delivered another break that sent her 3-0 in front. The former world no. 4 saved a break point in the fourth game and held with a service winner to extend her great run. Belinda landed a return winner in the fifth game, forging a 5-0 lead and serving for the victory. Rezai defended two match points and pulled one break back after a lucky return winner, avoiding a bagel and expanding the match. However, Bencic cracked a backhand down the line return winner in the seventh game for a match point and sealed the deal with a forehand crosscourt winner.