Bencic blows Fernandez out of Miami Open in straight sets

Belinda Bencic celebrates a point during her second round match with Leylah Fernandez at the Miami Open. 

Belinda Bencic was back to playing her best tennis at the Miami Open Friday night. The ninth seed overcame the opposition of Leylah Fernandez, who didn’t have her game in full, going down 6-1, 6-1 on Butch Buchholz court at the Hard Rock Stadium. It was an outstanding performance by the Swiss star, who needed a big victory to overcome her previous defeat

The two met for the fifth time and the first since the Billy Jean Cup where Bencic picked up her second-match win against the Canadian. The ninth seed hoped to get a third straight over Fernandez after exiting early against her fellow Swiss doubles partner. The time between Indian Wells and the second round of Miami allowed her to focus on getting into the tournament. Despite drawing Fernandez, the reigning Olympic gold medalist had an early challenge in front of her.

Bencic came out answering the service of the Canadian, breaking her to begin the match. She was all over the ball in the second, blanking Fernandez to love before breaking her to love. With a 3-0 run to start, continued to dictate the opening set on a strong service pushing her to 4-0. Fernandez got into the action by not only denying a triple break for the ninth seed but ending her slide.

Just when it looked as if the Canadian found a moment to dig in, Bencic drew errors from her opponent’s rallies and made it 5-1. Fernandez gave it her all in the seventh, saving a set point chance for Bencic to force deuce, but on the second AD point, the Swiss capped the first on a winner to end 27 minutes of play. Winning first-serve points weighed heavily in favor of the Swiss star, who could do no wrong. Fernandez was silent on returns, winning two points overall. She took a break off the court before returning to begin the second set.

Bencic picked up where she left off, having lost no heat after the wait before Fernandez came back. They played 12 points so fast that Bencic already had a new winning streak. With the break in hand from the second, the ninth seed made it 3-0 swiftly. The Canadian was unresponsive to Bencic’s service and continued to struggle with her own.

In the fourth, Fernandez made a significant turnaround with her serve, laying down points across to Bencic, and fight on deuce to get it locked up. The Canadian challenged Bencic on serve in the fifth, fighting through deuce to attain the AD point. An error into the net ended her quest to convert a break in the match, giving Bencic little more to achieve the victory.

The ninth seed stretched out the rallies for Fernandez, making it harder for her to accurately get the ball back on returns, setting up the Swiss to serve for a spot in the third round. She wrapped it up in style, waiting for her moment during a short rally to end Fernandez in one hour and seven minutes. It was her 16th main draw match win, bringing quality back to her form.