Belinda Bencic edges Marta Kostyuk in lengthy three setter

Belinda Bencic clenches her fist during her second round match with Marta Kostyuk at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. 

Belinda Bencic delivered a massive outpour of effort to come through a marathon match at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championship Tuesday. Marta Kostyuk gave the eighth seed an intense challenge from start to finish until the Swiss took the win 6-7(7), 7-6(5), 6-4 on Court One at the Dubai Tennis Stadium. 241 points were played between the two stars that threw all they had at one another to attain victory.

The Swiss star chose to bow out of Doha and make a run for a second title win. She carried a 2-0 series lead over the Ukrainian, who handled the Turk in the final two sets of their opening match Sunday. Kostyuk gave Bencic a hard time in Abu Dhabi and would do whatever it took to break her out of a strong offense. Despite losing out to go all the way in last week’s tournament, the time to recover after six straight matches gave the eighth seed a chance to run through the competition once more.  

Kostyuk set herself in a good place, holding serve in the opening game. Bencic responded with a serve to love, but the Ukrainian was in the groove to hold her end no matter what. Despite Bencic forcing deuce, Kostyuk played the first AD point to keep in front. The eighth seed took the lead away, holding it through the next three games.

Kostyuk overcame the deficit, and denied Bencic a chance at the set twice, gaining a break in the process. She took the 11th on serve but watched the Swiss level the score, sending them to a tiebreak. It was there that the Ukrainian gained more breakpoints, but putting the set away took time. On her fourth break of Bencic, Kostyuk made three a charm with a long ball return by Bencic, ending the first in 1 hour and 13 minutes. The defeat sent the eighth seed to slam her rack and move things into the second set.

The first game went to the Ukrainian, who took her success and turned it into a break for the Swiss star, who was still fuming. Kostyuk managed to consolidate for a 2-0 run, but Bencic didn’t let the gap grow further. She scored a serve to love in the fifth, then went on to break to level the score at three-all. Bencic added a third-game win that put her in the lead briefly. She led the way through four games, staying ahead of the Ukrainian through the 11th.

Kostyuk held the 12th to force another tiebreak, taking a two-point lead in the competition. Bencic started to bring the fight to the net, going for the points to even up. She stuck through a tough battle with the Ukrainian and went for the big shots when she needed the offense to pay off, completing the second in 1 hour and 16 minutes. Bencic’s second serve came in to save her which bested her first serve overall in the set.

The two combined for 38 errors, meaning that more would come going to the decider. Bencic got on the board first but wanted to keep Kostyuk off her tail. The 20-year-old refused to fall back and stayed close to the eighth seed, as both built up strong service games to the ninth.

The tenth was the difference maker for Bencic, who put all the intensity left inside to overcome a 15-40 gap, force deuce, and deny Kostyuk breakpoints to end a 3-hour and 27-minute ordeal. Late errors from the 20-year-old allowed Bencic to walk away with the victory and avoid a shocking upset. Kostyuk tallied 52 errors in the match but gave it her all through every point played. Bencic will try to get some rest before she awaits Karolina Muchova in the round of 16 Wednesday.