BELINDA BENCIC

Nationality:

Switzerland

Height:

175cm

Age:

Points:

1267

RANKING
#44

Player history

Belinda Bencic was born in Flawil, on March 10, 1997. During her career she won eight WTA titles, including the Premier 5 in Toronto 2015 and Dubai 2019, plus two other titles in the WTA 125 Tour. In Grand Slam tournaments she boasts as best result the semifinal centered at the US Open 2019.

Furthermore, in the same year, she qualified for the first time and at the same time reached the semifinal also at the WTA Finals. As for the WTA ranking, her best placement was the 4th world position on February 17, 2020; in doubles she instead boasts the position number 59 as her best placement, reached on 1 February 2016.

Belinda represented Switzerland at the Tokyo Olympic Games, winning gold in singles and silver in doubles, partnering Viktorija Golubic.

Career

In 2014 Bencic achieved her best Grand Slam singles result when she advanced to the quarter-finals at US Open. During that run, she defeated two Top 10 players (No.7 Kerber in the third-round, No.10 Jankovic in the round-16). At 17 years of age, she was the youngest player through to last eight at Flushing Meadows since 1997 when Hingis won the title. She was also runner-up in Tianjin (l. to Riske) and losing semifinalist in Charleston (l. to Cepelova). At the end of the season, Bencic was voted 2014 WTA Newcomer of the Year after rising 179 spots in the rankings to finish season at No.33.

In 2015 she won her first two career titles. In Eastbourne (d. Radwanska), aged 18 years, 109 days, she became the second‐youngest player to win a WTA Premier‐level final behind Caroline Wozniacki who won 2008 New Haven aged 18 years, 43 days.

In Toronto (d. Halep via retirement) she became the first teenager to win an event at Premier 5 level or higher since Azarenka at 2009 Miami. En route to the final, she claimed the best win of her career over No.1 Serena Williams in the semifinals. At 18 years of age, she became the youngest player to defeat Serena in a completed match since 2004 WTA Finals, when 17‐year‐old Sharapova defeated her in the title match (Serena also lost at 2007 Charleston to then 17‐year‐old Chan Yung‐Jan via first set retirement at 5‐3).

She lost two finals in 's-Hertogenbosch (l. Giorgi), and Tokyo [PPO] (l. A.Radwanska) and reached the round 16 at Wimbledon. She qualified for 2015 WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai however she withdrew due to hand injury. Bencic claimed also the first two doubles titles in her career in Prague (w/Siniakova) and Washington, DC (w/Mladenovic).

She struggled with injury in 2016. Bencic became the first Swiss woman to reach the round 16 at Australian Open (l. Sharapova) since Hingis and Schnyder in 2007. She managed to advance to her sixth career singles final at St Petersburg in February (as top seed for first time in career, l. Vinci). Her final-run there saw her break into the Top 10 (at No.9) for the first time in her career.

She became the 116th player to break into the Top 10 since computerized rankings were introduced in 1975, one of the 11 in the last 20 years, to make their Top 10 debut before their 19th birthday. She reached a career-high ranking of No.7 on February 22, 2016, but after Charleston (April) was sidelined for more than two months and missed most of clay season, including the Roland Garros.

Posted third straight Top 50 finish in 2016, at No.43, down from No.14 in 2015. In 2017, she decided to open the season by representing Switzerland at Hopman Cup in Perth and won the title partnering with Roger Federer.

She underwent left wrist surgery in the Spring of 2017, missing five months of play and her ranking slipped outside the Top 300. Choosing to graft her way back up the rankings, Bencic closed out 2017 season by winning 28 of 31 matches and winning four titles, two on the ITF Circuit and two WTA 125K Series events at Hua Hin, Thailand and Taipei. By the end of the year she was back in the Top 75.

2019 is the year of tennis renaissance for her, which begins with her participation in the Hobart International, where in the first round she beats the number two seed in the draw, Mihaela Buzărnescu, by comeback 4-6 6-3 7 -5, while in the second round she beat the Australian wildcard Zoe Hives 6-2 6-4; later, she defeats Dajana Jastremska 7-6 (2) 6-3. However, she is stopped in the semifinals by Anna Karolina Schmiedlová, who wins with the score of 6 (2) -7 6-4 2-6.

At the US Open, following the victories over Mandy Minella (6-3 6-2) and Alizé Cornet (6-4 1-6 6-2), he takes advantage of the withdrawal of Anett Kontaveit and ousts, after an hour and a half of match, the reigning champion and world number one, Naomi Osaka, 7-5 6-4.

This is the third victory of the season over the Japanese and the first Grand Slam quarterfinal in five years. In the quarterfinals she beats Donna Vekic 7-6, 6-3, accessing for the first time in her career a Slam semifinal, where she is defeated by the teenager and future champion Bianca Andreescu, who wins 7-6 7 -5. In this match, the Sangallian served several times for the set: the first time at 5-4 in the first set, while in the second she happens to be at 5-2 and at 5-4.

In the season she won the tournaments in Dubai and Moscow.

Belinda shows up at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, where she plays both singles and doubles. In the singles tournament, Bencic reached the round of 16, thanks to her successes over Pegula (6-3 6-3), Doi (6-2 6-4). Later, she eliminated the Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova 1-6 6-2 6-3. In the quarterfinals, she also beats the finalist of the last French Open, Anastasija Pavljucenkova by 6-0 3-6 6-3.

In the semifinals, Belinda and Elena Rybakina put on a marathon that lasted almost three hours. The first set sees the Kazakh run away on 5-2, before undergoing a comeback from Bencic who takes home the set with a score of 7-6(2), also canceling six set points all on her opponent's serve. However, the Swiss' stability collapses in the second and this allows Rybakina to bring the game back to a draw with a score of 6-4.

Access to the final was postponed to the decisive set, at 3-3 Belinda receives a yellow card for coaching, but does not get nervous, as has already happened previously, and, stringing together three consecutive games, ends the match in tears and incredulous with the final score of 7-6(2) 4-6 6-3. Furthermore, regardless of her outcome against Markéta Vondrousova in the final, it will be Switzerland's first Olympic medal in women's singles tennis.

Belinda manages to win the gold, beating her opponent with a score of 7-5 2-6 6-3, bringing back to Swiss tennis the most precious medal for the first time since Barcelona 1992, when to climb on the top step of the podium was Marc Rosset.

In doubles, together with Viktorija Golubic, she reaches the semifinal, defeating the Japanese Aoyama / Shibahara and the Spanish Muguruza / Suarez Navarro in the match-tiebreak and beating Perez / Stosur in the quarterfinals with a double 6-4. In the penultimate act, the two eliminated the Brazilians Pigossi and Stefani 7-5 6-3, accessing the final for the gold medal. Belinda and Golubic will aim to improve on the feat achieved by Bacsinszky and Hingis in 2016, when they won silver: the first ever Olympic medal in Swiss women's tennis. The Swiss are defeated in the last act for 5-7 1-6 by the Czechs Krejcikova / Siniakova, however conquering the second consecutive silver in the specialty for Switzerland.

In 2022 she won the title in Charleston.

In Adelaide 2023, she takes part in the last preparation tournament before the Australian Open, where she gets convincing victories over Garbine Muguruza (6-3, 6-4), Anna Kalinskaya (6-3, 6-3) and the number 4 in the world Caroline Garcia (6-2, 3-6, 6-4), In the semifinal she benefits from the walkover of her opponent Veronika Kudermetova. In the first final of the season she faces her contemporary Daria Kasatkina, her WTA number 8, to whom she leaves just 2 games (6-0, 6-2), thus conquering her seventh title in the major circuit. This result also guarantees her return among the top 10 players of the WTA ranking, after 2 years of absence.

In Melbourne she reaches the second week without losing any sets against Tomova, Liu and Giorgi. His round of 16 opponent is one of the favorites to win the final Aryna Sabalenka, so much so that their clash is presented as an anticipated semi-final. The Belarusian prevails with a score of 7-5, 6-2, and a week later she will confirm the predictions of the eve by conquering her first Grand Slam title.

She then won her 10th career title in Abu Dhabi, by beating Ljudmila Samsonova in three sets.

Style of play

Bencic possesses a powerful first serve, peaking at 113 mph, allowing her to serve aces and dictate play from first point hit. Despite this, Bencic's second serve is a notable weakness and is heavily affected by nerves, meaning he typically serves a large number of double faults.

Bencic possesses the ability to hit powerful winners, but she can also hit lob and drop shot winners when the opportunity arises. When she played with Roger Federer at the Hopman Cup, she praised her ability to return serve.

Bencic excels at hitting the ball early or high, and is able to turn defense into attack, excelling at redirecting shots across the line. She is an expert opponent on all surfaces, although she has stated that her favorite surface is grass.

Private life

Bencic has a brother named Brian who is three years younger and also plays tennis. He trained with her at the Molitor Academy and was ranked in the top 200 juniors in the world. He has both Swiss and Slovakian citizenship. She is engaged to Martin Hromkovic.

Net Worth and Endorsement

Belinda Bencic has a net worth of $6 million. Bencic has been Yonex-approved for racquets since she turned pro and has been Adidas-approved for apparel and footwear since 2011. The company, along with her racquets. In 2018, upon her return to professional tennis after a long injury layoff, Bencic was sponsored by Nike for apparel and footwear. Bencic has used the Yonex EZONE 100 racket throughout his professional career.