Belinda Bencic stunned the Indian Wells crowd with a 6-3 6-1 demolition of 2018 champion Naomi Osaka.
The Swiss player, 21, recently beat four top ten players to win her first WTA title since 2015 in Dubai, and she has carried that form with her to the desert.
“I think I played a pretty great match,” Bencic said in her on-court interview. “Obviously that’s what you have to do against such a champion like Naomi. I definitely had to be at my best, and I’m really lucky I was today.”
She continued, “My injuries set me back, but it just changed my perspective. I learned so much from my time out and I’m really enjoying being on court again.”
Bencic set her stall out to be aggressive from the first ball. She stepped inside the court and hit two fierce backhands to make 15-30 on Osaka’s serve in the first game.
Then she kept the pressure on the Japanese player on the next two points and watched as the World No.1 made two unforced errors to hand her the break.
The Swiss player built on her early advantage with a couple of emphatic holds. She then battled to another break in game five to establish a 4-1 lead.
Osaka cut the deficit by getting one of the breaks back in game eight, but it was not enough to save the set as Bencic broke her for a third time to take the opener 6-3.
Bencic continues to dominate
In the second set, the first game proved to be pivotal. The World No.1 earned a break point, but wasted it when she hit a backhand long.
Bencic went on to hold, and that gave her a platform to attack Osaka’s serve. She hit a superb backhand winner down the line to make it deuce, was gifted a break point by an error from her opponent and then clinched the break with an unreturnable cross-court forehand.
The World No.23 continued her imperious march to victory with two comfortable holds that moved her 4-1 ahead. Osaka responded by raising her racket as though she was about to smash it.
She also summoned her coach, but his advice did not help her as she made a series of errors to hand Bencic another break.
The Swiss player had been in control from the beginning, and she eased to another emphatic hold to seal a remarkable win over the player who won the last two Grand Slams.
