Belinda Bencic sweeps Petra Martic aside at Viking International Eastbourne

Belinda Bencic was on fire and never let the competition into the match at the Viking International. The sixth seed controlled a majority of the day against Petra Martic, who went down in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 on Court Four at Devonshire Park in Eastbourne. 

This was the second time in less than a week that the two met on grass and with the draw in place, she found the Croatian first up. The Swiss was fortunate to get a day of rest after her defeat in the final back in Berlin. With a full week of experience and comfort on grass, Bencic looked to dig in deep into Eastbourne in her fifth appearance. The 2015 champion knew that with one slipping away from her, she’d like to put a good start to another fight to recapturing glory in the south of England. 

The Swiss star got a terrific head start against Martic, opening serve comfortably before breaking her opponent. Bencic backed up the break with a hold in the third and scored the easy double break having dropped only three points through ten minutes of play. The 24-year-old had yet to drop a point on serve, and in the fifth, she coasted to another win sitting one way from the set. Martic ran out of ideas on how to counter the sixth seed until the sixth when she pulled off a serve to love, avoiding the bagel. 

She fought in the seventh to end Bencic’s 13 point streak on service, but it didn’t stop her from finishing the set that took a lightning 17 minutes to finish. The Swiss won more than 90 percent from the first serve and every point when her second serve was in play. Martic managed to return 1 of 11 from the first serve and 7 of 15 overall. 

The sixth seed opened up the throttle with a break of the Croatian before backing it up with a hold. Martic secured service in the third before watching the 24-year-old shut her out in the following game. The next two games were split between the two giving Bencic a two-game lead. The Croatian had another service game locked down after seven, however, her opponent coasted to another win despite committing her first double fault of the match. 

The nerves were on Martic to try and finish strong on serve, but she erred twice that brought up match point for Bencic. A final error from the 30-year-old sealed the deal for the sixth seed who completed her opening round in just 52 minutes.