Belinda Bencic got into another fight for every point at the Australian Open Thursday. Her comeback through three sets with Svetlana Kuznetsova was a show of heart as she came through winning 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 on Margaret Court Arena at Melbourne Park.
The two met for the sixth time, with Kuznetsova earning a stronger victory to begin the Australian Open. In a battle of the veterans with Barbora Strycova, the Russian handled her opponent allowing four wins to the Czech. As she faced the youthful Swiss whom she defeated at Doha last season, the 35-year-old had her opportunity to wreak havoc. Bencic had a rough outing with Lauren Davis, who took her through a run of errors in games until the 11th seed found a way to control the match. With her history of success against Kuznetsova, the 23-year-old hoped to cap another victory.
Bencic struggled with her opening game, giving Kuznetsova a breakpoint attempt. The Russian erred to negate the AD point that soon led to the 11th seed holding service. The Russian opened to a 40-0 situation until her Swiss counterpart got on the board. She didn’t let that bother her as a terrific forehand winner sealed the second. Winners got Bencic through another hold of service, increasing her offensive strength.
Through the next four games, Bencic continued to lead the way, adding great court positioning during the seventh, answering well in front of the net to Kuznetsova’s shots. Great serving also came from the 35-year-old, who answered Bencic to level the score each time. As they reached the tenth and Bencic still out front, it became a fight between the two. Kuznetsova held the 11th seed for most of her service game until she forced deuce with a ball landing long in front of Bencic. A second ace brought up an AD point but her next shot fell into the tramlines.
The Russian notched a third on Bencic before holding her second AD point that pushed the set deep. The Swiss earned free points on Kuznetsova’s errors, bringing her to a 6-5 stand. The 35-year-old had to act with a much-needed win but was trounced by the 11th seed, who broke her to love taking the set in 51 minutes. The Swiss star committed zero double faults in the set, showing that her focus was on point in the shape of 83 percent points won on the first serve.
When they got into the second, Bencic committed her first double fault, putting her behind Kuznetsova. The Russian had two breakpoints, watching the last one give her the opening lead on a long ball from the 23-year-old. She consolidated the break for a 2-0 lead even while recording a double fault of her own. Bencic added two double faults during her service in the third, losing much of her consistency.
The Swiss star tried rebuilding the momentum that was all but gone, throwing everything at Kuznetsova on serve in the fourth. Despite getting the game to deuce where they played five breaks and ten minutes, she couldn’t contain the breakpoints. As Kuznetsova inched closer to a set win and both playing the third one, Bencic began to strike back. The 11th seed allowed the Russian just one point before closing the fifth with an end to her opponent’s dominance.
Kuznetsova answered with a hold in the sixth, with a similar return for the 23-year-old. With another chance to break Bencic, the Swiss star answered with a fight for control, gaining a second victory out of it. Kuznetsova once again served for the set, clinching her way to forcing Bencic to the distance in 45 minutes.
During the set break, the 11th seed called out the physio to take care of a blister to her right foot. After the medical timeout, play resumed with Bencic serving to open the third set. She battled back Kuznetsova who gained a breakpoint but denied her that to hold on to the first break of deuce. The Swiss consolidated it with a break of the Russian, making it look like a run of control was building up.
Kuznetsova put an end to that with a break back in the third but was threatened on serve in the fourth. Bencic gave herself chances but critical errors killed her chance to widen the gap. With the score level at two-all, Bencic got back serve fighting to regain the lead in the fifth. A bad double fault gave Kuznetsova the double break with a chance to double the margin on serve.
Bencic refused to let that happen as the set inched closer to its finish. The 23-year-old scored the break back and served strong in the seventh to regain the lead. The 11th seed fought through every point in the eighth, giving herself breakpoints on Kuznetsova. One got away from her, but not the second as the forehand paid her a fifth win. Serving for the match, Bencic committed her tenth double fault and fifth of the set. She made up for it with a big fight for the next point, earning another after a short rally.
A winner brought up two match points for Bencic, but Kuznetsova answered with a crosscourt that forced the error. Her second attempt went away on her 11th double fault, bringing up deuce. A third match point was blown on an error that led to Kuznetsova taking the break. As she served to extend the set, Bencic was threatening after being gifted free points. She earned two more match points with one being saved on a Kuznetsova crosscourt winner. The next was the clincher for the 11th seed as Kuznetsova suffered a shot into the net ending a 2 hour and 39-minute fight.
“We played so many matches against one another,” said Bencic after the match. “We went three sets and it was always so tight so that was what I was expecting and well done to her for a good match.” She’ll go into Saturday facing Elise Mertens of Belgium in the round of 32. “I’ll try to recover until I meet Elise. She’s a great player of course and super consistent so I hope I can play a good match and then I’ll see.”
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