Olympic champion chases Wimbledon breakthrough - but GB star stands in her way
Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic admits she is honoured to be mentioned in the same breath as fellow Swiss tennis stars Roger Federer and Martina Hingis as she prepares to face British number five Katie Swan at Wimbledon.
Bencic, the number 14 seed, was eliminated in the first round in her last two appearances at SW19 but still considers the tournament her favourite. She also views grass as her best surface, and reached the final of Wimbledon warm-up tournaments in both 2021 and 2022, though her Olympic success in Tokyo came on hard-court.
Bencic is aiming to be the first Swiss player to reach a singles quarter-final at Wimbledon since 2021, when Federer achieved the feat in his final appearance and was matched by Viktorija Golubic in the women’s draw. Last year, Stan Wawrinka and Henri Laaksonen suffered first-round defeats in the men's draw while none of the four Swiss women involved got beyond round two.
“I don’t really feel the pressure because I’m doing much better than I ever expected, and it’s amazing that I can be mentioned with these legends of the game in one sentence,” Bencic, 26, told Mirror Sport at ASICS’ House of Tennis.
“I’m really happy I’m in my own name making Switzerland proud - I love to represent Switzerland but it’s not possible to compare me to Roger or Martina because they achieved so much. I really hope to get closer to them, but they are really unique so it’s difficult to match that."
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Bencic recalls watching Wimbledon on TV as a child, when Federer was winning the first of his record eight Wimbledon titles and Hingis - champion in the year of Bencic's birth - was returning to the All England club. "In a nice way I think the people from Switzerland as well, or the expectation on Swiss tennis, I think we are very spoiled because there was always Roger or Stan or Martina Hingis doing really well for such a small country," she says.
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Belinda Bencic was eliminated in the first round at Wimbledon in 2022 (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)It has been a year of change for Bencic. She has changed coaches - starting to work with Matej Liptak at the French open after ending her professional relationship with Emma Raducanu's former coach Dmitry Tursunov - and in April she became the newest ASICS ambassador.
She admits she wore ASICS shoes even before joining their roster, which also includes defending Wimbledon men's champion Novak Djokovic, and speaks highly of their detail-orientated approach on and off the court. "I really like that and I think it resonates with what I like to do on the court, with the detail and to put everything into my performance," she explains.
Injuries mean this will be Bencic's second tournament as an ASICS player, as well as her second with Liptak, after an early exit at Roland Garros. Two titles at the start of 2023 point to her pedigree, though, and there's a chance for a proper run at Wimbledon even if she's still learning in the relationship with her new coach.
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Bencic faces Katie Swan in her opening match"It’s funny because I consider grass as my favourite surface and I’ve done really well in the warm-ups, but at WImbledon I think fourth round is my best result," Bencic says. "So I really hope to go a bit further because I consider this my favourite tournament.
"When I was small I watched it on tv and it was my dream come true to come here. I’m not thinking too much about my record not being so good because I think one day I will for sure have a good result here and am working hard towards it.
"i’ve been struggling a bit with injuries so we’ve had a bit more rehab and practice and this is going to be the second tournament together [with Liptak], so of course I’m trying to build up this relationship so hopefully it’s going to last for a stable, longer time.
"I think in the start it’s always about getting to know each other, starting to trust each other and finding also the game what works and doesn’t work, the practice is different than the matches, and just, yeah, getting to know each other and starting to work together."
First-round opponent Katie Swan is coming off a run to the final in Surbiton (PA)Bencic’s opponent, Bristol-born 24-year-old Swan, has a chance to record an upset and reach the second round for just the second time. Swan reached the final of the Surbiton Trophy in June, the same tournament in which fellow British star Andy Murray won the men’s singles, and has been given a wildcard for Wimbledon this year.
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Swan was eliminated by Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk in 2022, and fell to seeded American Madison Keys the previous year. The winner of Monday's clash between Swan and Bencic will go on to face either Danielle Collins or Julia Grabher in round two, and a clash with top seed Iga Swiatek could be on the cards in the fourth round.
Swiatek is coming into the tournament off the back of a second straight French Open success, though she has yet to get beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon. The Pole fell to Alize Cornet in 2022, suffering a straight sets defeat in round three.
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