Keystone
Belinda Bencic continues her good run at the WTA 500 tournament in Doha – in extremis. The Olympic champion wins against Viktoria Azarenka after a deficit of 1: 6, 1: 4.
Her current mental strength and well-known fighting spirit carried world number 9 Bencic to his sixth win in a week. Against the Australian Open semi-finalist Asarenka, who was eight positions worse, she was completely lost for one and a half sets. But then the 25-year-old from Eastern Switzerland turned things around and turned the tide with four games won from 1: 4 to 5: 4 in the second set. Bencic completed the comeback with a 7:4 win in the tie-break.
In the decisive set, she immediately took the lead again with a break – and then did not let the Belarusian, who was eight years her senior, back into the game. The Swiss didn’t allow any more chances on her own serve. After two and a quarter hours, Bencic got her 18th win in the last 20 games with 1: 6, 7: 6 (7: 4), 6: 4.
In the quarterfinals, Bencic’s winning streak could now be in serious jeopardy if she meets world number one Iga Swiatek or former Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins (WTA 42). Poland’s Swiatek is one of only two players to beat Bencic this year.
sda
