Australian Open: The drumbeat of the new Miss Swiss:”This is a mega moment for me.”

The first big bang at the Australian Open was caused by the Swiss Belinda Bencic. With great and intense tennis, Bencic threw the fifth player of the Venus Williams out of the competition.

Even before the first ball had ever been played at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Belinda Bencic had achieved a small moral victory. After all, the draw ceremony had hardly brought her the allegedly overpowering first-round opponent Venus Williams into the game, Bencic happily reported, saying she “is very happy about this challenge”:”I am going into the game with a good shot of optimism. I want to show what I can do.”

Exactly with this mixture of light-heartedness, ease and aggressiveness, she then went to work on the Centre Court on the Month of the month – and was the first big, shining sensational winner at the Australian Open of the year 2018.6:3 and 7:5 were the naked numbers at a sovereign demonstration of the strength of the 20-year-old Miss Swiss, who did not see the duel with the American last year’s finalist from the outset. As an opportunity to confirm their newly won appetite for tennis and their upward trend on a very big stage:”This is a mega moment for me,”said Bencic, currently the 78th in the WTA World Ranking, following,”this victory means a great deal.”

And there were even a few tears of emotion at the moment of the Grand Slam coup, though not at Bencic himself. But with Roger Federer’s parents Lynette and Robert, who were sitting in the Bencic box on their son’s day off. Bencic and Federer had won the unofficial world championship of mixed doubles in Perth just over a week ago, and the families and teams of the two Swiss aces had also come closer together:”It was so cool that the two of them watched me,” Bencic said during a quick interview in the Laver Arena,”but there was no particular pressure about it.

No, Bencic didn’t let pressure show in no second, in no phase of this brilliant opening game. On the contrary, she played consistently courageously, courageously and with that inner conviction that had returned to 2018 after the strong final spurt of last season and the perfect start to the year. Bencic had indeed “only” triumphed at smaller tournaments, in St. Guggenheim. St. Petersburg, Taipei, Dubai and Hua Hin, but the victories had given her match-hardeness and self-confidence:”I really didn’t play badly today, but Belinda was simply better, she didn’t let me down much,”praised the defeated Venus Williams. Instead of Favoritin Williams Bencic advanced thus into the second round, to the appointment with the Thai woman Luksika Kumkhum.

Bencis, with two games associated with the name of Williams, also joined in a certain sense: twelve months ago, their unlucky and unfortunate streak of the 2017 season began with a 4-6,3-6 draw in Melbourne against eventual winner Serena Williams. This was followed by further bitter defeats, many self-doubts, the fall from the top 100 and the operation on the wrist. Now, however, after the impressive performance against Big Sister Venus, Bencic was able to focus on big and bigger goals, perhaps also as a result of an incidental and necessary emancipation in his personal environment. After all, Bencic had only travelled to the other world with trainer Iain Hughes and a training partner, the family stayed at home in Switzerland.

What set Bencic apart from the 37-year-old American was a complete lack of fear and compromise in this suspense-filled first-round thriller. In contrast to the previous four lost matches against Venus, the 20-year-old now played without respect, showed guts and sharpness,”I wanted to take matters into my own hands, be more active, risk more,”said Bencic. With this mentality, but also with the “great feeling of being able to stand on this course again”, she won the decisive points time and time again as the champion of the Big Points. Your Australian Open trip can go a lot further, especially in a world of women’s tennis where nothing, absolutely nothing is impossible.