Belinda Bencic is on her way back to the top after her injury break and has already celebrated three tournament victories in the final phase of the 2017 season.
At the beginning of 2016, the young Swiss player suffered a severe setback at her highest level of play to date. Time and again the 20-year-old suffered from wrist pain and had to cancel some tournaments.
The former number seven in the world tried it for a long time without any intervention on the damaged wrist. Last season, Bencic had to give up and underwent surgery. The comeback of Roger Federer’s Hopman Cup partner took place in September 2017. The fact that the 1.75-meter-power-woman can still chase the yellow felt ball over the course with an enormous amount of class proves three tournament victories during the season-end sprint.
The reward for this is the return to the world’s top 100:”It felt weird at first to return to the court. I didn’t feel well at all, but after the second tournament, my ambition came back and I got angry again about a sly backhand”, Bencic explained at the WTA.
Since her return to the tour, the 20-year-old has spent most of her time at smaller tournaments and secured three tournament victories. Victories at the WTA Challenges in Hua Hin (Thailand) and Taipei (Taiwan) were followed by a recent success in Dubai. This triumph was synonymous with the new ranking in 74th place. The time-out before the return was not easy for Bencic:”I felt like a tiger in a cage. I’m already a competition type, without points I can’t do anything… The compulsory break was difficult, I’m almost crazy at home, I couldn’t do anything except puzzles”, the Swiss woman says in her eyes.
In addition to the tournament victories, Bencic’s biggest success in 2017 is his direct qualification for the Australian Open 2018,”The biggest goal for me was to qualify for the Australian Open. I had to play well to reach the goal. I’ve made good decisions. I played a lot of tournaments in peace and I know the ITF tournaments, it was normal for me,” Bencic added.
Before the start of the new season, the two-time WTA tournament winner will run alongside her compatriot Roger Federer at the Hopman Cup. Last year, Bencic and the “Maestro” were already standing together on the pitch and enraptured the spectators at the opening tournament of the season in Australia.
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