Switzerland’s Fed Cup bid has been dealt a severe blow after world No.10 Belinda Bencic withdrew from their upcoming tie against the Czech Republic due to injury.
Bencic have been struggling with a back injury since the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. At this week’s Charleston Open, where she was the second seed, the Swiss player suffered a 6-1, 6-1, loss to Elena Vesnina. The 19-year-old attended a medical assessment on Friday and was advised by medical staff to rest from competition for four weeks. The exact injury involves an injury to the membrane of the coccyx (the small triangular bone at the bottom of the spine).
“The injury is a small scar of the periosteum in the coccyx. It is not serious, but it needs some time to heal completely. ” Bencic’s father and coach, Ivan, said about the injury.
Due to the four-week resting period, it is unlikely that Bencic will be recovered in time to play in the Stuttgart Open, which start on April 18th. If she misses the German event, her next scheduled tournament will be the Madrid open in the first week of May.
Next weekend Switzerland will host defending champions, The Czech Republic, for their Fed Cup semi-final clash at the Messe Luzern AG in Lucerne. The country has never won the Fed Cup title, with their best performance being runners-up in 1998. Despite Bencic’s withdrawal, Swiss team captain, Heinz Günthardt, has maintained a positive outlook during an interview with 24 Heures.
“This obviously happens at the worst time, but we have a team full of resources and have proved last year in Poland that we could fill the absences,” the Swiss captain said.
The Swiss Fed Cup team currently consists of Timea Bacsinszky, Viktorija Golubic and Martina Hingis. Meanwhile, the Czech team will feature four top-60 singles players (Karolina Pliskova, Barbora Strycova, Denisa Allertova and Lucie Hradecka). The last time the Swiss team defeated the Czechs was back in 1998.
