Elina Avanesyan upsets Belinda Bencic at the French Open

Elina Avanesyan clenches her first after pulling off an upset against 12th seed Belinda Bencic at the French Open.

Elina Avanesyan earned an incredible victory to start her French Open debut Monday. Keeping her heels close against 12th-seeded Belinda Bencic, who didn’t play a clay court match in 50 days. Despite time off, the Swiss star gave it her all but faltered late in a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 score on Suzanne Lenglen Court on the grounds of Roland Garros.  

The 20-year-old successfully made it into the main draw on her second try at Roland Garros, going against the world number 12.  Avanesyan had a slight advantage against the Swiss star, who missed most of the European clay tour. Her run in Charleston stood as a good step for her seventh appearance in the slam, hoping to go beyond the third round. Bencic made it to the round of 32 last year, and with time off to recover, the 26-year-old needed her offense to start on time.

Avanesyan was the one to attack well off the opening serve, holding Bencic to a point. She kept the pace high to break the 12th seed and rolled on for a 3-0 run. Avanesyan seemed accustomed to sliding on the red clay, consolidating the double break. Bencic was having issues doing the same, recording ten unforced errors from her end of the court. She put a stop to her problems in the fifth, refusing to give the 20-year-old another victory.

Bencic backed up the break in the sixth, digging into the gap that she managed to cut in half. The 12th seed continued to build a streak, notching her third game for the double break on Avanesyan. The lucky loser stopped Bencic in her tracks after the Swiss star suffered a double fault and was broken to love. Bencic attempted to turn things around in the ninth, gaining break-point chances to sit a game down.

Avanesyan fought back to deuce, making the game a critical one for either player to attain. They went three breaks, with the 20-year-old capping the first set on a beautiful winner. After 40 minutes of action, Bencic produced four winners to Avanesyan’s eight. Both players had a high number of errors that needed to be sorted out, but the leverage stood with Avanesyan.

Bencic took time off the court to regroup, and on her return to open the second set, the 26-year-old held her opponent to a point. Avanesyan held her side in the second, earning an easy victory from the service, while Bencic missed an easy return. She scored the first break of the set, gaining a lead and in control of her momentum against Avanesyan. The Swiss star improved the forehand and her overall service to step forward to a 4-1 grip of the set.

A strong break from the 12th seed put Avanesyan in a tough position to prepare for a third set to come into action. The 20-year-old managed to jump ahead on the score but watched as Bencic forced deuce. Avanesyan got into the court and took the forehand shots that helped her in the first to beat back the 12th seed. Bencic didn’t let the loss of serve bother her, staying focused in the eighth to break Avanesyan and strap up the second set after 40 minutes. Despite having three double faults, her opponent suffered four and recorded 17 errors. Bencic lowered the errors from her end and improved on the winners.

She cruised through her opening service of the final set, setting the bar for Avanesyan to level the score. The 20-year-old did just that in the second, giving it her best to stay tight against Bencic. The two recorded four holds of serve in the set, but the momentum was comfortable with the Swiss star, who laid down beautiful winners on the tramlines.

She wailed away the returns, adding pressure to Avanesyan, who fell behind on serve. She picked up the defense to save breakpoints and force deuce, but the AD point went to Bencic. Avanesyan changed the tempo to save her third breakpoint. She handed the 12th seed a fourth attempt, gifting the win on a long error from the backhand.

The 20-year-old scored the break back and made it four-all against the 12th seed. The ninth was huge for Bencic to contain, but the fight from Avanesyan made that all the more difficult. She took a 40-0 stance against the Swiss star, who battled back to deuce but suffered problems during the critical moments to achieve the double break.

With things going her way, Avanesyan served up a beautiful service, allowing Bencic a point before reaching match point. On the final rally, the 20-year-old got the win on a final error by the 12th seed, capping a remarkable upset that took her 2 hours and 19 minutes to accomplish.