Keystone
Belinda Bencic is the last Swiss player to drop out of the US Open in the 3rd round. The number 13 seeded Swiss lost to number 22 Karolina Pliskova from the Czech Republic in just under two and a half hours 7: 5, 4: 6, 3: 6.
After being able to get out of several tricky situations in the first two rounds, Bencic gave up a game against the former world number one and 2016 US Open finalist that she seemed to control. The 23-year-old from Eastern Switzerland won the first set 7-5 without brilliant and then went 2-0 in the second set. A very good starting position against the tall Czech, whose strengths lie in serving and not in return.
As so often in the last few weeks and months, Bencic did not find a certain calm in their game. Good and bad phases alternated, but overall she acted too erroneously and inconsistently. Pliskova immediately equalized to make it 2:2 and secured the equalizer with a break to make it 6:4.
Last but not least, there was a problem with the service, which ultimately cost the Olympic champion the game. After the 1-1 in the deciding set, Bencic couldn’t get through a service game. She was still able to react to breaks to 1:3 and 2:4, but the one to 3:5 was one too many. After 2:26 hours it was 30-year-old Pliskova who made it into the round of 16 with a forehand winner and met Belarusian Victoria Azarenka there.
The numbers speak for themselves against Bencic. They show 42 unforced errors and only 8 service games won (out of 15). In the end, Pliskova was able to improve when it mattered, also because Bencic let her come into play.
The Grand Slam season ends disappointingly for the Swiss at the place where she celebrated her greatest successes with two quarterfinals and one semifinal. In the four major tournaments that year, she never made it to the second week. That’s not enough for an Olympic champion and number 13 in the world.
sda
