Belinda Bencic fought back from near-defeat to knock out eighth seed Aryna Sabalenka in a dramatic 6-4 2-6 7-6 win at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in 2 hours and 26 minutes. Bencic saved six match points in total before triumphing in a final set tiebreak 9-7. The drama and tension were unremitting to the last point. Although the match lacked any serious spark – which was highlighted by a whopping 21 double faults by both players (including one on match point)- it came to life right at the end of a final set tiebreak which was nerve shredding as well as nail-biting.
The Swiss woman was already contemplating on heading to the locker room during the first of six match points when she was asked how she survived from the jaws of defeat. ‘’I don’t know I was already thinking about having my shower,’’ an exhilarated Bencic said on her on-court interview.
The 21-year-old had begun brightly in the first set by claiming a double break and surging to 5-1 lead. However, Sabalenka demonstrated her striking prowess, always painting the lines and reduced the deficit to 5-4. Bencic though held her nerve at the second time of asking to close out the first set.
The Belorussian who has had a fantastic start to the year showed the gulf in quality as evident in the world rankings, when she breezed past her opponent in the second set to level the match. Bencic had a couple of fiery exchanges with her father/coach during the sit-down. That prompted a perfect response from the World No.45 who retrieved a break of serve back after going 3-1 down. Sabalenka though was always in the ascendancy and she was in control until the final few games of the third set and the ensuing tiebreak. The Belorussian is making her top 10 debut this year, but she was unable to finish off Bencic who was hanging on more in hope than expectation. Sabalenka had the match on her racket on two match points and failed miserably, double faulting at the second attempt. It took Bencic just one opportunity, when Sabalenka fired long.
With that win, Bencic has booked a quarterfinal showdown against World No.2 Simona Hale,p who had earlier on beaten Lesia Tsurenko for the second week on the trot. The Romanian will need no reminding of the last time she took to court to face Bencic. A relatively unknown teen at the time, Bencic shocked the tennis world when she defeated Halep (albeit via a retirement in third set) to claim the Rogers Cup in 2015.
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