Belinda Bencic handles Tereza Martincova in straight sets at National Bank Open

Belinda Bencic waves to the crowd after her straight sets win over Tereza Martincova at the National Bank Open. 

Belinda Bencic comfortably took care of business at the National Bank Open Tuesday. She notched 23 winners in a solid performance against Tereza Martincova, winning 6-4, 6-2 on National Bank Court at Sobeys Stadium.

The Swiss owned the series with four wins against the Czech. She went over a month without a single match played, leaving her hungry for action on the hard courts. Martincova got two under her belt at Washington before being ousted and into fighting for a place in Toronto. With the withdrawal of Victoria Azarenka, the 27-year-old gained her place in the draw, hoping for a better outcome against her rival.

She opened the match with two quick points before Bencic got to scoring. After reaching 40-30, Martincova sealed the win to start things right. The 12th seed made quick work of her service game, but so did the Czech, who sped much faster in her second service game on the court. Seeing that her opponent was playing well, Bencic put her offense into another gear and leveled the score at two-all through four games. In the fifth, she returned fiercely, which earned her the break and a chance to back it up.

The 25-year-old accomplished a 4-2 grip on Martincova, who was seeing a major shift in momentum. She put a halt to it, holding in the seventh, but Bencic was still on a great pace from her side of the court. She easily capped the eighth game, hunting to bring an end to the set with Martincova back on the hot seat. Unforced errors were rolling up for the Czech, who gifted Bencic three set points.

One was saved on only the Swiss’s second error of the set, but more came from the 25-year-old that brought up deuce. The pressure increased for Bencic, who blew four set points, handing Martincova chances to sit a game down. After four breaks, the Czech succeeded on serve, leaving Bencic irate. She pulled off three straight points, blowing two more before putting the set to bed after 36 minutes. Bencic’s points won on first and second serves were high compared to Martincova.

In the second set, Bencic fired on all cylinders to take a 2-0 lead on the Czech, who struggled to regroup her game. In her second attempt to dig in, Martincova trailed on the scoreboard and inevitably handed her opponent the double break. The Swiss backed up the break, fighting back the Czech off on deuce to gain the AD point, and keep it. The 27-year-old denied her opponent a chance for the triple, securing a victory herself.

She kept the fight up, going after Bencic’s service in the sixth to force deuce. Despite two chances to break the 12th seed, Martincova fell 1-5, putting Bencic in play to go for the match. The 27-year-old held serve in the seventh, but with Bencic back on serve, she needed more to go right. A trickle return over the net from Bencic was a bad beat for the Czech, who soon saw her tournament conclude. Reaching two match points, the 12th seed fired a second straight ace down the T to move on after 1 hour and 15 minutes.   

While she added her fifth win against Martincova, the path forward took a swing of difficulty as Serena Williams stood in her way going into the second round.