Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic has claimed her first WTA title on clay after outlasting Ons Jabeur in a marathon final at the Credit One Charleston Open on Sunday.
The 25-year-old recovered from a second set blip to overcome her Tunisian rival 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, after more than two-and-a-half hours of play. During what was a rollercoaster encounter, there were a total of 12 breaks of serve with Bencic breaking her opponent seven times. Three of those breaks took place during the deciding set which guided her to the Charleston title.
It is the second year in a row where Bencic has defeated Jabeur on the clay after also winning their first meeting at the 2021 Madrid Open. In Charleston she dropped just three sets in six matches played. Earlier in the tournament she also defeated Madison Keys, Paula Badosa and Ekaterina Alexandrova.
“(I’m) super proud to win the first title on clay,” wtatennis.com quoted Bencic as saying following the final. “I think it was a week where I was fighting. I was two points away from the exit in the first round, and I feel like this is how you win the tournament.
“I’m just really relieved I served it out. I think Ons, she took everything from me today. And at some point I just really didn’t know what to do anymore, and I think she played great in the second set … I was just trying to fight every point.
“It means a lot, and especially this is the 50th anniversary of [the tournament], and it makes me so happy that I am among those names, especially when I saw yesterday all the former champions.”
It is somewhat fitting that Bencic claimed her maiden WTA clay-court trophy at Charleston which was one of her first tournaments where she started to breakthrough on the Tour. back in 2014 she came through qualifying to reach her maiden WTA semi-final at the age of just 17.
“This means so much to me, because this was my first tournament where I kind of made my breakthrough when I was 17 years old; I played the semifinals. It means so much for me to win this tournament, because when I lost in the semifinal I was not sure if I would ever get another chance,” said Bencic who is the first Swiss champion in Charleston since Martin Hingis in 1999.
As for Jabeur, it is the second year in a row she had to settle for runner-up at the tournament after also missing out on the trophy in 2021 to Astra Sharma. She is now 1-4 in Tour finals with her only triumph occurring at the Birmingham Classic last season.
Bencic, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympic Games last year, has now won six titles so far in her career. As a result of her latest win she has climbed up the WTA rankings by eight spots to 13th. Her highest position since October.
