"On 11 January, 14 months since her comeback began, Bencic played Iga Swiatek in the final of the United Cup in Sydney. The world No 2, and current Wimbledon champion, won the first set but Bencic played supreme tennis as she swept Swiatek aside 6-0, 6-3 in the next two sets to seal her ninth consecutive victory of the week for Switzerland. Her imperious performance also meant that Bencic was back in the world top 10 again."
"Bencic pauses when I ask her to explain why she believes her tennis has improved since she became a mother. It's difficult to say why but I'm definitely very focused on trying to make my game better. I'm also pushed to do this because everyone else is getting better too. Tennis is moving forwards and it's getting more physical and just faster. But I also think my mindset is different. I'm focusing more on the process and not so much on the results which is funny because the results are coming as well."
Belinda Bencic returned to competitive tennis as a new mother and climbed more than 1,200 places in the world rankings after dropping to world No 1,213 in October 2024. Husband and coach Martin Hromkovic cared for baby Bella while Bencic resumed competition. Fourteen months into the comeback she defeated Iga Swiatek in the United Cup final, produced nine consecutive wins that week, and re-entered the world top 10. Bencic previously won Olympic singles in 2021 and reached world No 4 in early 2020. The WTA tour presents relentless schedules, travel demands, and intense physical and psychological challenges for mothers. Bencic attributes recent improvement to increased focus, a different mindset, and concentrating on the process rather than results.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]