Belinda Bencic advanced to her first Grand Slam semi-final thanks to a 7-6(5) 6-3 victory over Donna Vekic at US Open 2019.
It is a huge moment in the career of the talented Swiss. She has won three Premier titles and boasts an impressive 22-19 win-loss record against top ten players, so this feels like the natural next step.
However, the job is not done for Bencic. She has a great chance to go even further at Flushing Meadows this year. She will play another talented young star in the last four, either Bianca Andreescu or Elise Mertens, and she will believe she can win. If she does, who knows what will happen in a Grand Slam final?
“I really like the challenge (of big matches),” Bencic said in her on-court interview. “I think some players are a bit afraid of the big courts, but it gives me more motivation. I dreamed of this when I was a little kid, and now that I’m here I’m really enjoying it – especially playing in a stadium like this in front of a crowd like this.”
The Swiss player thinks that her injury struggles have actually helped her. “The tough times helped me see tennis from a different perspective,” she said. “Sometimes you take it for granted when you are successful, and you have the pressure.”
“But when you can’t play, you miss it so much. My perspective changed, and I’m enjoying my tennis so much now.”
Bencic edges tight opening set
The first set against Vekic was a tense affair. Neither player produced their best tennis and neither managed to trouble cause their opponent many problems on serve in the first eight games.
Consequently, the score moved along to 4-4 at the stage with no clear indications about which way the match was going to go.
Then it sparked into life. From 40-15 up on her serve, Bencic missed an easy forehand and was forced into another error by an excellent return from the Croatian.
It got worse for the Swiss. She served a double fault and then hit a wayward backhand to gift Vekic the first break of the match.
Bencic was livid. She shouted and gestured to her father in the stands and it seemed like all the momentum was with the Croatian.
However, the Swiss did what all frustrated players need to do. She channelled her anger into her tennis. First, she hit a powerful cross-court forehand winner. Then she benefitted from a Vekic double fault that made it 15-30.
At 30-all, Bencic hit another forehand winner. Then she seized the break with a deep backhand return that tied the Croatian in knots.
After that disappointment, Vekic seemed a little flat for the rest of the set. She did well to save a set point on her serve in game twelve. But she handed the Swiss the initiative midway through the resulting tie-break with a sloppy backhand, and the World No.12 clinically closed out the set.
Bencic gets better as the match goes on
In the second set, Bencic looked more assured. She got a couple of holds on the board at 2-2. Then she tarted to put pressure on the Croatian’s serve.
Vekic saved two break points in game five to stay in the contest. Then the Swiss player quickly knocked her out of it. She won 12 of the next 14 points to earn three consecutive games in a short space of time and move one game away from victory at 5-3.
When the Croatian served to try and keep the match alive, it was clear that she was now facing a player full of confidence, as Bencic came up with a series of classy groundstrokes to earn two chances to finish the match.
However, Vekic seemed determined to make her work for it. She hit three brilliant forehands to move from match points down to game point up. The Swiss responded by dragging her all around the court to bring it back to deuce, and then the Croatian made two errors to hand Bencic the last two points she needed to seal the win.
The World No.12 looked understandably delighted. She put her hands over her face and smiled in apparent disbelief, then she gathered herself and walked to the net to embrace her friend.
“After very tough times, we were both in the quarter-final of a Grand Slam,” Bencic said. “We were both very happy, and I think we are professional enough to be friends off the court and do our work on the court.”
It has been a great tournament for Vekic and she will rightly feel very proud of what she has achieved. However, it has been an even better fortnight so far for Bencic, and it could get even better from here.
