Belinda Bencic had more than just her game bothering her, bowing out of the Miami Open early on Sunday. The ninth seed didn’t get into contention with Ekaterina Alexandrova, who made a comeback in the first set tiebreak to take down the Swiss in straight sets 7-6(8), 6-3 on Grandstand court at the Hard Rock Stadium.
The Swiss star looked to get back on track after a disaster of a birthday against fellow Swiss friend Jill Teichmann, whom she lost to at Indian Wells in her opening round. With a month passing, the ninth seed looked to avenge her disappointment and bring her best again, as she did against Leylah Fernandez two days ago. Without giving up a single break point, the reigning Olympic gold medalist dominated in fine form, looking to get another one against Alexandrova. They met five times, with the last one on a hard court coming at Indian Wells.
The ninth seed made her service game fly by, despite the 18th seed getting into the opening game. Once Alexandrova fired away, she held Bencic back and made quick work of the second game. She anted up to score a break in the third, keeping Bencic to a point on her service. The 28-year-old rallied to back up the break opening the gap after four. Bencic made sure to keep in touch with her opponent, denying her any chance of a double.
Alexandrova turned up the pace in the sixth, scoring her first love service against Bencic. The Swiss struggled to find her rhythm, leaving her to fight for the security of service against Alexandrova. After three breaks of deuce, it was the 28-year-old erring the ball wide of the tramlines to keep Bencic close on the score. Consistency dropped on Alexandrova’s side of the court as the errors began to rack up. Bencic remained patient on deuce until her moment to strike gave her a four-all situation.
She served the ninth, only to fall behind on serve. Alexandrova had two chances to get back the lead but blew her opportunities. On deuce, Bencic reeled the victory in after two breaks, saving one from the 18th seed before leading 5-4. Alexandrova caught a break in the tenth, fighting off the problems and earning points from Bencic to force the set deep. The ninth seed kept her end of the court hot, staying in control of her service, adding to the nerves of her opponent’s game.
The 18th seed managed the issues, saving two set points from the Swiss, leveling the score at six-all. It sent them into a tiebreak where both players traded off points beyond the necessary required Bencic let the opportunities she brought up quickly dissolve, losing out on another two set points in between being broken. The 28-year-old had her pair and did so at 9-8, capping off the first in 1 hour and 13 minutes.
Bencic’s first serve was at 50 percent when the set came to a close, souring her offense that had many winners but too many errors. The double faults rattled both, but it was the ninth seed who weighed heavier on the statistic. She tried to regroup and make better of the second set, but there was trouble as she battled the forehand. Alexandrova took advantage of her opponent’s struggle and broke her in the opening.
The 18th seed went on to take the next pair of games, capturing the double break against the Swiss. Bencic stopped the bleeding in the fourth on serve, holding the 28-year-old to a point. A cough was beginning to bother the ninth seed, but she kept in while Alexandrova reestablished her three-game cushion after serving the fifth.
The two continued to hold serve against the other, with the 18th seed performing better on offense. As soon as the time came for her to go for the match, Alexandrova laid down and ace, watched a winner from Bencic go by, and achieved two match points on an error from the Swiss. She laid down an ace to upset Bencic in a major comeback that took 2 hours and 34 minutes.
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