The struggles of Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic continued at her home event on Tuesday as the crowd favorite former Top 10 player was unable to snap her recent string of losses in front of a very supportive crowd at the Ladies Open Biel Bienne.
Bencic, who was ranked in the Top 10 just 13 months ago, had recently fallen out of the Top 100 after a string of injuries and subsequent losses, which forced the Swiss talent to play on the ITF circuit before entering Biel with a wildcard.
Unfortunately, the former Toronto champion wasn’t able to turn the home advantage into positive momentum. After losing her doubles match on Monday, Tuesday’s singles encounter was an even more frustrating affair as the local fans had to watch Bencic fall to Germany’s Carina Witthöft in two rather quick sets.
The fans got to see excellent tennis before the evening drama though, including a thrilling three-setter between top seed Barbora Strycova and qualifier Marie Bouzkova, a young qualifier that pushed the WTA tour veteran to dig deep from the start.
Strycova is joined in the tournament’s second round by young Donna Vekic, who beat Sorana Cirstea, and Julia Görges, who topped Naomi Broady. Also through to the next round is Evgeniya Rodina as her opponent, Hungary’s Timea Babos, had to retire halfway through their second set.
For more from the Ladies Open Biel Bienne keep checking back to Women’s Tennis Blog.
PHOTOS FROM PREVIOUS DAYS AT THE LADIES OPEN BIEL BIENNE:
Belinda really needs to gain confidence on lower tier events. I think because of the injuries she had, she lost some of that confidence. Wishing her a productive year ahead.