CHARLESTON, S.C. (USA) — Belinda Bencic is quite an impressive tennis player.
She has all of the shots, and amazingly she just turned 25 years old with a decade of pro experience. The Swiss standout looks very capable of adding a major achievement at the upcoming French Open. She already owns an Olympic gold medal in women’s singles (2021). Before Paris, she has achieved another feat, winning her first WTA Tour singles title on clay and sixth singles title in all. She should celebrate what she accomplished Sunday afternoon for a few days.
NO CAKEWALK TO VICTORY
It was no cakewalk against 5-6 Tunisian Ons Jabeur in the final of the $900K Credit One Charleston Open. Jabeur gave it her all, but could not match the brilliance of Bencic in the first and third sets of Bencic’s 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 win in Sunday’s final.
Bencic is a former world’s No. 1 junior who won Junior Wimbledon and Junior French Open titles and quickly turned pro in 2011 after her 14th birthday. She was trained by fellow Swiss Martina Hingis’ mother (Melanie Molitor) early in her career.
Sunday’s result brought tears to Jabeur’s eyes over dropping her second straight final in Charleston. She also lost last April in the final of a WTA Tour $250K event on the same court, as well as the semifinals of this tournament earlier last April.
EVERYTHING BUT WIN
Jabeur did everything but win. She ran down a Bencic lob and returned the ball with a between-the-legs shot at least twice. On one of those between-the-legs shots in the seventh game of the third set by Jabeur, Bencic was waiting at the net and hit a drop volley that Jabeur got to on the second bounce and flew through the air to connect with her right foot to hit the ball over the net. And topping it off, Jabeur slammed her racket to the green clay where it bounced, not once but at least three times during the match.
Yes, Jabeur wanted this one badly, enough to cry in the post-match ceremony.
But the 5-9 Bencic would not crumble. She hit backhands straight down the line for incredible winners when it seemed Jabeur had the point won.
BENCIC KEPT JABEUR AT BAY
Bencic wouldn’t let Jabeur off the hook after the 27-year-old Tunisian rallied back from 3-1 down to deadlock the third set at 3-3. Bencic came right back with back-to-back wins for 5-3 and then got a match point before Jabeur recovered to hold service in the ninth game.
There was no question about the decisive 10th game as Bencic quickly moved to triple match point with some strong serving, and then watched Jabeur’s forehand service return sail far over the baseline to end the long match.
Of course, it wasn’t really that easy for the talented Bencic.
JUST PUT THE SERVE INTO PLAY
“I’m super relieved, just super happy,” said Bencic, who moved up eight positions to 13th in the world ranking with the title. “I’m super proud to win the first title on clay.
“I was two points away from the exit in the first round (against Xiyu Wang), and I feel like this is how you win the tournament. I’m just really relieved I served it out (the final game).
“In the second set, I think I got a little tight. And then serving it out (in the third set), I really don’t know how. Like I was so nervous. I was just like, okay, just put the serve in.
“And then somehow like my instincts, they took over, and I played those rallies and I think I played three great points, and then on match point I just kind of, yeah, put it in. And thankfully, she missed,” Bencic added.
SHADOWS CAUSED PROBLEMS FOR BOTH
Both players said their games were somewhat affected earlier in the match by shadows over one end of the court. “It was a big problem . . . on that side,” Bencic said about the shadows.
“I had trouble adjusting with the roof and the shades,” Jabeur said. “I couldn’t see the ball very well. I was having trouble reading the ball, especially Belinda plays kind of fast.
“I was really trying to focus on the ball, to focus on the bounce. I’m someone that needs to see the bounce of the ball.”
Jabeur, despite moving up one spot in the world rankings to ninth, called the loss one of the toughest of her career. She planned to head to Paris for a couple of days, and then on to Stuttgart, Germany, to compete in an indoor red-clay event.
DOUGHNUTS ON TAP
Bencic was already thinking about a Sunday night meal of doughnuts. “I really want to go to Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I really love doughnuts. I love like cheap meals, and my favorite now is for sure doughnuts because I’ve been eating like healthy, and I was looking on my diet and everything. But now it’s the time to eat something bad.”
And Bencic should be able to do just that with the $158,800 she won in the Charleston Open.
After a tight few months away from home, Bencic said, “We are flying back home tomorrow.”
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James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award as the tennis columnist for the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier newspapers. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.
