- Belinda Bencic (WTA 14) beats Danielle Collins (WTA 52) 3: 6, 6: 4, 7: 6 (10: 2) and is in the 3rd round at Wimbledon.
- The Swiss fights back after being behind in a set and a break, demonstrating great morale.
- With a dominant match tiebreak (10:2), Bencic wins the game.
After more than two and a half hours of play, the outcome of the game between Belinda Bencic and Danielle Collins was still completely open. With a score of 6:6 in the deciding set, the match tie-break – played to 10, not the usual 7 points – had to decide on victory or defeat. And exactly at this point, Bencic found their best game again.
At breakneck speed, she advanced 5-1 until the change of sides. But there was no let-up, the 26-year-old also impressed on the other side of the net. Bencic continued to drive in the fast lane. After a total of 2 hours and 43 minutes, the woman from Flawil used her first match ball to make it 10:2 in the match tiebreak and thus to advance to the 3rd round.
Long playing time no problem
For Bencic it was only the second game since leaving the French Open at the end of May. She had traveled to Wimbledon without a preparatory tournament. She passed her first real test against Collins. The American demanded everything from the Swiss. Especially at the beginning of the game, Bencic was overwhelmed by the opponent’s pace. As a consequence, she gave up an early break lead in the first set and lost the round 3:6.
Bencic was only able to get used to Collins’ game in the middle of the second set. At 3: 3 she managed the rebreak, at 6: 4 another service breakthrough to win the set. The former top 10 player from the USA didn’t give up even after the equalizer. The 3rd round turned out to be extremely balanced.
No break chance for Bencic
Especially with Collins’ serve, Bencic still had trouble getting into the rallies. That’s why the world number 14 didn’t get a single break chance in the entire set. Bencic, on the other hand, faced the loss of a service game 4 times but was able to ward off all chances.
Bencic was able to increase their level just in time. She won 4 points when her opponent served in the match tie-break, and she herself remained extremely confident in service. This is how the Olympic champion earned her first entry into the 3rd round on Church Road since 2019.
There Magda Linette (WTA 24), who had eliminated Jil Teichmann in the first round, is waiting for Bencic. In the second round, the Pole prevailed against Barbora Strycova (CZE/WTA 623) in 3 sets.