Belinda Bencic denies Podoroska in opening round of the French Open

Belinda Bencic had her game under control during her first-round match against Nadia Podoroska at the French Open. 

Belinda Bencic had a near-perfect start to her run at the French Open Monday. The tenth seed swept through the opening set until Nadia Podoroska gave her a challenge later on but fell short in a 6-0, 6-3 result on Court 14 at Roland Garros. The Swiss star denied the Argentine a chance to have another thrilling run for a second consecutive appearance. 

The semifinalist returned to Paris hoping that her Cinderella run would lead her in a similar way this season. Her four wins on the clay courts have allowed her to prep well against the Swiss, who she faced for the first time. Bencic’s played four matches in Madrid before coming up short in Rome. With no further action prior to the slam, the 24-year-old set her eyes on making sure that the Argentine didn’t have her good luck returning for another long ride through the draw. The tenth seed made it to the third round for the first time last year in hopes that this run would carry progress. 

Bencic opened the match with a dominant service that tested Podoroska, who fell hard when it came time for her to fire shots at the Swiss. The tenth seed blasted back the returns, scoring the break, and dominated in the third. A serve to love from the tenth seed gave her a commanding 3-0 lead. Bencic easily scored the double break on the Argentine, as she watched winners zip by with no clear push to get to them. 

By the time 15 points were played, the Swiss star had 14 of them and soon found herself up 5-0 with no fight from Podoroska. On serve in the sixth, she faced a triple setpoint from the tenth seed, who scored it on a return winning, closing out the set in 20 minutes. Bencic won just six of seven from the first serve, but with the Argentine all but dead on the same, it was a set of unanswered points. She had 10 unforced errors that made it too easy for the 24-year-old, who faced very little opposition. 

Bencic picked up where she left off, winning her seventh game in a row on Podoroska. She dug in during the second, getting two points against the Swiss before reaching a 40-30 position. A line drive winner during the rally allowed the Argentine to end the losing streak and build upon that. Podoroska did just that in the third to break back on Bencic and serve to open the gap. The tenth seed refused to let her opponent get away and broke back to make it clear that she would not get another jump like that. 

When it came to her serving in the fifth, the tenth seed wasted no time to achieve the lead with the hope of keeping Podoroska behind her. The Argentine picked up the pace on her service that allowed her to score another victory against the tenth seed. Bencic dealt with the same intensity that she gave the Argentine in the sixth but came through to take it and score a big break in the eight to serve for the match.

The Swiss star got into a perfect position, scoring triple match point on a crosscourt winner. She blew a crosscourt shot that landed wide of the court, sent the second one long of the baseline but made the only one she needed count. What became a last-minute fight from Podoroska was a shot from her into the net that closed out her time in singles action after one hour and eight minutes.