Belinda Bencic once again had to battle in the late stages of her match but came through to advance at the Adelaide International Thursday night. The Swiss star overcame the adversity of
Storm Sanders, who stood as Australia’s last hope but fell 6-2, 6-4 on centre court at the Memorial Drive Tennis Centre.
The Aussie had a lot on her shoulders after the exit of world number one Ashleigh Barty but appeared to carry it well. Her win over Yulia Putintseva said a lot about her willingness to dig in and earn victories during a match. Though she never met Bencic before, she had her biggest obstacle of the tournament in the Swiss who just got her journey started.
The 23-year-old opened her entry to Adelaide taking down Misaki Doi in straight sets. Despite having some troubles late in that match, the second seed had to be prepared to keep Sanders back or struggle through a long battle against the qualifier.
The 26-year old put together a decent hold to open the match but soon faced the power from Bencic. The second seed scored a serve to love before making it very difficult for Sanders in the third. It was the longest game played with the Australian qualifier coming back from 30-40 down. She and Bencic fought hard for the AD point six times with her getting the last laugh after playing off the fourth breakpoint.
Sanders attempted to make it tough for the second seed but failed to hold her off, losing break point chances. Bencic made her pay for it in the fifth as Sanders suffered the first break of the set. She tried to break back and get even, but the Swiss star had other plans. The second seed fought back Sanders on deuce to hold her end and double the lead.
Having found her momentum and dictation of Sanders, Bencic overcame a bad service game in the eighth to force deuce. The second seed dug in and waited for Sanders to make the errors that soon handed her the set after 46 minutes. Despite having two double faults that could have let Sanders well into the set, her four aces that worked their magic, helped the second seed sit in the position she wanted.
It got better for her as Bencic broke Sanders and soon worked on consolidating the early break. The 23-year-old capped the second with a serve to love, scoring it on a shot popping off the top of the net and into Sander’s side of the court. The Aussie qualifier paused Bencic’s dominance in the third with a service hold but watched as the second seed had her game under control. Just when you thought Bencic would coast along with victories, Sanders made her statement stand out.
The Aussie held back the second seed to hold the fifth and broke her opponent with a late surge that evened things up. The seventh had Sanders vying for control as she won seven of the last ten points. Bencic battled hard to get to 30-all before producing a breakpoint. A final volley helped her secure the break back, serving for a chance to widen the gap back. Sanders refused to make it easy for the Swiss star, playing every point to force deuce. Despite her best efforts, a bad error gave Bencic the victory that set her up for a shot at the match.
With new balls, Sanders served to stay alive in the match, scoring a winner to get the ninth started. She continued to lead Bencic until a winner that came with some controversy frustrated the Swiss. As Sanders scored on a line drive winner, Bencic was upset that someone in the stands called out something, taking her response away. Despite the loss, she earned the shot at serving out the match on serve.
Errors forced the second seed to trail Sanders before coming back on two free points due to errors. An ace silenced the Australian support that gave Bencic a match point before a seven-shot rally ended with Sanders slicing an error that ended the night in 1 hour and 32 minutes.
"All the credit to Storm," Bencic said during her con court interview. "She played amazing and I knew she was going to be an uncomfortable opponent of course being a lefty and I hard time getting used to how she plays." With another out of the way, she'll take on the 16-year-old American Cori Gauff. "She's a great player, and it's gonna be a very good match. She has a lot of great results for how young she is so it will be a cool experience."
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