Belinda Bencic got out of trouble during her first round match at the U.S Open Monday morning. A fight from American Samantha Crawford turned into a three set battle on Court 17 that went in favor of the Swiss teen winning 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-4 at the Billy Jean King Tennis Center.
The American had the edge going into the final major of the year with a win over the Swiss teen. Before the 19 year old went on a run to the top ten, she gave it her all in a match at Brisbane against Crawford only to drop out in straight sets. The 19 year old has battled since a back injury kept her out of action for awhile. Though she made it back to a few tournaments, it wasn’t enough to keep her in contention as she dropped to 26th in the ranks. While she hoped for a better turnout, the thought of her last meeting might play in her head one way or another.
She took an early lead in the set gaining a break on Crawford through the third game hoping to widen the gap on her second game of service. The American answered on serve in the fourth with a victory to keep the 19 year old Swiss player in sight. Bencic made it 4-2 in the sixth holding serve on her end inching closer to the set. Crawford did what she could to put the brakes on her opponent in the seventh and did so with plenty of strength from her forehand. She held the score in her favor before smashing a line drive on Bencic’s left to win the game.
Bencic served in the eighth but had nothing to answer for on the returns as Crawford went on to rack up the points. She got to a triple break due to a double fault from Bencic who couldn’t answer on a forehand winner that leveled Crawford. Another double fault from Bencic allowed Crawford to take the lead and the set. Bencic pulled out all the stops to prevent that from happening as she battled to level back and push the set onward.
Crawford broke first to take a 6-5 hold of serve pressuring Bencic for a second time. The 19 year old brought her best and fought through two breaks to win the 12th that sent the set to its breaking point where only one could come out ahead. In the tiebreaker, it was Bencic making the statement taking a 3-0 lead on Crawford’s struggle on serve. She broke the four point streak of Bencic firing a winner to get on the board. She then picked up another pair before an error increased the score for the Swiss star.
Errors got Crawford back to level pegging making it a difficult position for Bencic to be the stronger factor. Crawford took the role of being the front runner and won on Bencic’s 16th unforced error to win the set 7-6 after 51 minutes. Despite serving 40 percent of her shots, the American did far better on winning points and landing winners across court. Bencic played a messy first set racking up five double faults with a second serve under 40 percent.
The want of a better set came but not without a challenge from the American who stayed neck n neck with Bencic in the second. The 19 year old kept out front with Crawford on point to level back through six. It wasn’t until the seventh where the Swiss teen gained a buffer against the American and breathed a sigh of relief when she led 5-3. Bencic served out the ninth where she took a two set points attempt on the American and won on a forehand winner ending the set in 33 minutes.
With the match anyone’s to win, both ladies brought all they had left in the tank to get it done. Crawford led the way in the third pressuring Bencic to falter on the break. She held up her end in the fourth followed by an important break in the fifth that put her ahead of the American. A break for Crawford erased the possibility of Bencic running away with the set evening up after six that clearly had her searching for the upset.
Bencic put that all aside after another stalemate through eight where she took the break on Crawford to serve for the match after nine. The American made Bencic earn the match win making her fight on deuce to get the victory. After a break on an unforced error from Crawford, the Swiss teen won it on a second straight error completing a challenging match that took 2 hours and ten minutes to finish.
With plenty of work that was put in to the match, Bencic wont get to rest long as she’ll prepare for a similar opponent in Germany’s Andrea Petkovic in the second round Wednesday.
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