Viktorija Golubic upsets Belinda Bencic at Eastbourne

Viktorija Golubic plays well on the forehand serve against Belinda Bencic at the Viking International in Eastbourne, England. 

Belinda Bencic didn’t have her game in place against her Swiss compatriot at the Viking International Wednesday. The sixth seed suffered problems with her service and couldn’t gold back Viktorija Golubic in a 6-4, 6-4 result on Court Four at Devonshire Park in Eastbourne. 

It was the battle of the Swiss stars for the third time and the second to come on grass. Bencic owns both wins against her compatriot and came off a huge win against Petra Martic Tuesday. With such a big statement that took less than an hour, the 24-year-old looked to keep up the good work and disallow Golubic into the fray. While their match on grass went back-to-back tiebreaks, the sixth seed would try to keep her doing that again. 

Bencic opened the match with a comfortable hold and went after Golubic in the next game. The 28-year-old overcame the deficit saving two break points before a second AD point attempt locked down the service. Bencic continued to strike hard and seal up another hold of serve, but Golubic was still playing with an offense that was not bowing down. 

After sealing up the fourth on serve, Golubic went after Bencic in the fifth after forcing deuce herself. She stopped Bencic from an AD point and produced two in a row. The 24-year-old couldn’t stop her opponent’s momentum and suffered the first break of the set. The 28-year-old Swiss player backed up the break to make it 4-2, but couldn’t keep Bencic back further. The sixth seed secured the seventh, but she knew that Golubic was playing her best game. 

The 28-year-old fired away in the eighth, allowing her younger compatriot two points. Bencic answered in the ninth with a serve to love, but the margin worked in favor of Golubic, who finished the first comfortably with two set points and a lead after 43 minutes. The senior Swiss had a better first serve percentage and converted better on breakpoints. 

Bencic dug in right away in the second set as she and Golubic traded points that led them to deuce. Bencic needed three AD points to lock down the hold of serve before changing her tactics. Golubic dealt with a breakpoint opportunity for Bencic to force deuce and stopped another before a miraculous point. With the AD point chance, Golubic got into a rally and somehow scored a winner while stretching for it on the far side of the court. 

Though it was not a whole loss for the young Swiss, she put together a serve to love before breaking Golubic in the fourth. The 28-year-old broke back in the fifth before consolidating it with a hold to level the score. She scored the double break on Bencic who was all out of sorts to the point of refusing to sit down during the break. The second seed talked to herself before the eighth which resulted in yet another loss and two games down. 

All was well with Golubic, who had a jump on Bencic’s service game but watched her close the gap. The 24-year-old finished the gap with a win that put her a game down but her opponent with the chance to serve for the advance. Errors from Bencic brought the Swiss senior to match point where a return wide gave Golubic the upset that took her 1 hour and 30 minutes.