Belinda Bencic made it through the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday in Melbourne. The Saint-Galloise, 10th in the world, beat the Briton Katie Boulter (WTA 113) in straight sets, 6-0 7-5.
The 2020 Olympic champion delivered a good match to reach the 2nd round of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, where she will face the Czech Nikola Bartunkova (126). She won in 1h28′ of play on the Margaret Court Arena.
After a one-sided first set, Bencic still had to work hard to avoid playing a third set. While she was leading 4-3 on her serve, she saw the Briton come back to 5-5.
But the Saint-Galloise tightened her guard before taking advantage of a missed service game from Boulter to regain the lead. She finally concluded on her second match point.
Belinda Bencic therefore continues the momentum of the United Cup, where she won five singles in a row including some prestigious victories against Jasmine Paolini (8), Elise Mertens (21) and Iga Swiatek (2). The excellence of her form makes the Swiss one of the main outsiders for the final victory in Melbourne.
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ats/tzing
