Belinda Bencic won the final of the WTA 500 tournament in Charleston on Sunday by dominating the tenth player in the world, the Tunisian Ons Jabeur in three sets and 2h35 of play (1-6 7-5 6-4). This is the sixth career title for the Saint-Galloise (25), the first on clay, the first also since her Olympic title in August 2021 in Tokyo.
This prestigious success (Charleston is one of the most renowned tournaments in the 500 category) allows Bencic to move from 21st to 13th place in the WTA rankings, a rank more in line with his talent and potential. Better ranked, Ons Jabeur will curse herself for having again missed a final (only one title for five finals played). Twenty-three years after Martina Hingis’ last victory, the Swiss flag is flying again over South Carolina.
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Belinda Bencic had a perfect start. She thus won six games in a row to lead 6-1 1-0 service to follow. Only, the Tunisian had the merit of reacting and equalizing with one set everywhere thanks to a magnificent winning forehand on the set point.
Despite the frustration aroused by the loss of this second set which could have smiled on her – she overused a break point at 4-4 and two at 5-5 – Belinda Bencic had the good idea to always race in the lead in the third set. She had to sign three breaks to conclude with a shutout and to win her sixth title, the first on clay, the first since her Olympic title in Tokyo last September.
A resounding confirmation
Semi-finalist in Miami just before this Charleston tournament, Belinda Bencic brought the resounding confirmation of her return to the fore. Affected by the Covid-19 in December, the Saint-Galloise had not really been able to play the first tournaments of the year in full possession of her means. For three weeks, she has found them to evolve in the register that had been hers during the Olympic tournament.
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With this title in Charleston, Belinda Benic can feed the greatest hopes for the European season on clay. Even if Iga Swiatek, the new boss of the circuit, has a good head start on her rivals, nothing says that Belinca Bencic will not assert herself in the coming weeks as one of her main rivals. There are, in fact, not many players who “feel” the ball as well as she does. Against Ons Jabeur, his ability to read the opponent’s game was one of the keys to his victory.
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