Belinda Bencic missed the whole of the clay court season, due to a back injury. In her first match since her injury, the Swiss youngster came up against a tricky opponent in Alison Van Uytvanck. Bencic started the match off strongly as she took the first set in twenty-eight minutes, however, signs of rustiness crept in as she dropped the second set to Van Uytvanck. With both players battling hard, the third set could have gone in either direction, in the end, it was Bencic who found a way to get past her opponent.
Bencic starts strongly
Bencic got off to the best possible start in the match as she broke Van Uytvanck in the opening game. The 19-year-old capitalized on her second break point chance to give herself an early advantage in the match. Bencic then consolidated the break with a relatively comfortable hold of service. After losing the opening two games, Van Uytvanck eventually got herself onto the scoreboard. The Belgian took the game without dropping a point, giving herself a slight confidence boost.
Unfortunately for Van Uytvanck, it was all downhill from here. The Belgian soon found herself 5-1 down in the set after Bencic raced through the next three games. Bencic looked impressive as she won her two service games and broke Van Uytvanck with her first break point opportunity in the fifth game.
Van Uytvanck stepped up to the service line in the seventh game of the set, knowing that if she did not hold her serve she would find herself a set down. The Belgian managed to win the game, giving herself a fighting chance in the set. This put pressure on Bencic to serve the set out. The young Swiss player did not falter as she comfortably took the game and the set at the first time of asking.
Van Uytvanck wins battle of the breaks
Bencic came into the second set with all of the momentum in her corner. This soon changed as Van Uytvanck took control of the set. Van Uytvanck raced to a 4-0 lead in the set, thanks to a combination of good hitting and Bencic showing signs of rustiness. During these four games, Van Uytvanck won her service games with ease before she broke Bencic twice. In the fourth game, Bencic managed to fend off three of Van Uytvanck's break point opportunities, however, the Swiss player gave Van Uytvanck one too many chances and Van Uytvanck took the game at the fourth time of asking.
In the fifth game of the set, Bencic got herself onto the scoreboard. The 19-year-old found a way to break Van Uytvanck and put a slight dent in the Belgian's confidence. Unfortunately for Bencic, she quickly found herself down a double break again. The young Swiss player could not consolidate her break, which allowed Van Uytvanck to extend her lead once again.
With a 5-1 lead in the set, Van Uytvanck stepped up to the service line knowing that if she held her serve she would take the match to a decisive third set. Bencic was not going to go down without a fight and the young Swiss soon found herself with three break point opportunities. Van Uytvanck fought off all three of Bencic's break point chances, before working herself into a position to take the set. The Belgian could not capitalize on her set point opportunity, which allowed Bencic to work herself another break point chance. This time around Van Uytvanck could not prevent Bencic from taking the game and keeping herself in the set.
The break of serve, sparked a comeback from Bencic. The 19-year-old consolidated the break with a strong hold of service before going on to break Van Uytvanck to love. With both of the breaks recovered, Bencic had the chance to level the score in the set, but instead, Van Uytvanck broke Bencic once again. By getting the break, Van Uytvanck won the set which took the match to a decisive third set.
Tie Break needed to decide the winner
The third set was completely different to the previous two. Both players comfortably held their service games for the opening eight games of the set. It was not until the ninth game that either player had a break point opportunity. The opportunity fell to Bencic, who after some good play had worked herself a chance to put herself back ahead in the match. Van Uytvanck fought off the chance before gifting Bencic another opportunity to break her. Bencic made the most of the second opportunity she had been given, and she broke Van Uytvanck to put herself 5-4 ahead in the set.
With the lead once again, Bencic had the opportunity to serve for the match. A combination of nerves and Van Uytvanck fighting to keep herself in the match, led to Bencic losing the game. The Swiss could do nothing to prevent Van Uytvanck from capitalizing on her first break point of the set and leveling the score once again.
Both players won their next service game, which meant the match needed to be decided by a tie breaker. The tie breaker was closely contested, just like the rest of the match. In the end, it was Bencic who found a way to get past Van Uytvanck and take the match. Bencic was made to work hard by Van Uytvanck, but in the end, the Swiss had one match point too many for Van Uytvanck to fend off.
Bencic was clearly relieved to get the victory after a closely fought match. The Swiss progresses into the next round of the tournament where she will face Varvara Lepchenko.
