LONDON: Belinda Bencic admits she is surprised to find herself in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon less than a year after returning to the Tour following the birth of her first child.
The Swiss 28-year-old upset Russian 18th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6(4), 6-4, to move into the last eight of a major for the fourth time in her career. Her three other runs were achieved at the US Open, with her best run being in 2019 when she reached the semi-finals. Bencic’s victory is even sweeter considering earlier in the grass swing, she was crushed by Alexandrova at a tournament in Germany, winning just three games during that match.
“I did many things much better today, which I think made a difference. So I’m really happy about that,” Bencic said of how she managed to get her revenge win.
Bencic’s Wimbledon success is not completely out of the blue when you look at her season so far. She has also reached the last 16 of the Australian Open, made it through to the quarter-finals in Indian Wells and won the Abu Dhabi Open. Although all of those tournaments took place on a hardcourt.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Bencic’s run was that this time last year, she wasn’t playing on the Tour after giving birth in April. She began her comeback last October by playing on the lower-level ITF Tour.
“I’m surprised about how fast the results are coming. I think it’s just really a result of the work we put in and also the mindset that I have now,” she explains.
“I’m trying my best to win. I’m fighting with everything I have on the court. I still want to win very badly.
“I think it’s much different now. I am surprised but I’m not going to complain about it.”
As for balancing motherhood with life on the Tour, Bencic explains the key for her is being open to compromise.
“I feel like you have to be really prepared for not being able to do everything perfectly. I think what I try sometimes in the household, on the tennis court, being a mom, I think you just have to let some things go. You have to compromise,” she explained.
“I’m really lucky I have great support from all my family, especially my husband.”
Bencic is the first Swiss woman to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon since Viktorija Golubic in 2015.
