Belinda Bencic earned the biggest comeback victory of her career at the Australian Open Monday. The 20 year old had her game on lock, played aggressively and took down Venus Williams in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 at Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park. After so much trouble with injuries, Bencic managed to get another victory and get the career victories of the Williams sisters under her belt. It was the fourth time Venus was knocked out in the first round and the third time in five years.
With her sister unable to play in the year’s first slam, the pressure was on the elder Williams sister to bring her best to the world stage. She faced the Swiss star for a fifth time having had no problems beating her in the past. This was their third slam match and second to be in the first round. The 20 year old had her eyes set on making 2018 memorable and an upset of the American would greatly help and erase all the issues of her injuries that took a toll on her game. She won nine of her last ten matches that included a solid run at the Hopman Cup. With a win of Serena under her belt, Bencic would no doubt hunt to get a victory over Venus.
She stayed locked on her as the two held their own service games with Bencic showing good answers against the American. Williams led the way with the forehand strong as they went along. The seventh saw the Swiss miss take a stance on court and play against it that earn her a break chance. Bencic got the win with an unforced error on the backhand taking over the lead 4-3. Williams nearly had it even with a triple break opportunity but watched Bencic save every point to force deuce. They were in the fifth break when rain began to fall inside which the umpire suspended play and the retractable roof closed.
When it finished its closure, they returned to action with Bencic serving up an ace to regain the AD point. After a fault, she launched a winner down the line when Williams returned the shot taking the 5-3 lead. Williams serve was ice cold in the ninth handing Bencic three set points before a long ball brought the set to a close in 58 minutes. The 20 year old had 14 winners that nearly had three times as many as Williams who had just 9 of 16 of points won on the first serve while Bencic nailed 15 of 18.
The American turned things around with a good start to the second set breaking the Swiss star with the serve in hand in the next game. Bencic didn’t let being down bother her as she marched back to force deuce while on serve. The game went four breaks and seven minutes where the youngster ran after every ball and kept the controlled aggression in check to come out a winner. The breaks began to form as Williams took one in the third before she was broken apart in the fourth. They got back to service holds apiece with Bencic leading the way to set the nerves into Williams.
The 37 year old handled her game well in the eighth matching her opponent but as the set’s end came closer, every point was critical to win. Bencic made a statement with a serve to love that ended with Williams blowing an easy smash slicing the shot way beyond the sideline. It left her with a big problem to hold serve or risk being eliminated in the opening round for third time since 2014. Williams had game point in hand in the tenth but Bencic forced deuce soon after. It went two breaks that the veteran superstar held to move deeper on.
The bar was set high for Williams again as she sat a game from elimination a second time. She challenged a call that gave her the first point and then witnessed the 20 year old setting up winners away from her. A third one came on a ten shot rally that had an easy forehand shot ending up far out of reach that gave her a massive comeback win of her career. It took 1 hour and 53 minutes to finish what was the biggest upset of the day so far and one that clearly had Bencic back in the right place where she wanted to be. She had 29 of 38 points won on the first serve and 32 winners despite serving 58 percent.
It was a difficult five months,” Bencic said of her struggles. “I think the perspective changes a lot and I just came back and I’m enjoying it much more and can appreciate just playing and not thinking about winning or losing. I’m just happy to be on court and it taught me a lot during frustrating times.”
With things going a lot better than ever, the 20 year old would prepare for her second round match Wednesday facing the winner between Johanna Larsson or Luksika Kumkhum in the second round.
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