By Clare Lovell
LONDON (Reuters) -Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic reached her first Wimbledon quarter-final in nine attempts on Monday, dismissing 18th-seeded Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6(4) 6-4 in just under two hours on a breezy Court One.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion, 28, shed tears after she finally broke the fourth-round barrier 15 months after giving birth to her daughter Bella and said she felt very proud of herself.
But she needed six match points to down 30-year-old Alexandrova, who just last month beat Bencic with the loss of only three games at the Den Bosch grasscourt tournament in the Netherlands.
Bencic, who has been knocked out in the fourth round here three times before, said she turned the tide by being more courageous.
“I think I tried to be more brave. I had more matches under my belt and it turned out better than the last time I played her,” she said.
“I always got stuck in the fourth round. It was so important for me to break through to the quarter-finals,” she added.
Alexandrova, who has also never passed the fourth round at the All England Club, blew hot and cold in the first set, dropping two service games before turning on the aggression, improving her second serve and fighting back to force a tiebreak.
But Bencic, calm and businesslike, won four points in a row in the tiebreak and sealed the set after an hour and one minute when Alexandrova sent a backhand long.
Bencic broke Alexandrova’s serve in the eighth game of the second set but was unable to capitalise when serving for the match in a mammoth eight-deuce game that lasted some 15 minutes and during which the Russian saved five match points.
But Bencic came fighting back on the Russian’s serve with a forehand winner for a sixth match point, converting it when Alexandrova put a forehand long.
The Swiss, ranked 35 but a former world number four, was one of nine mothers in the draw, but the only one to reach the fourth round. She gave birth in April last year and was back playing competitively within six months even reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open in January 2025.
“I’m really proud of myself and the whole team. We did an amazing job coming back,” she said.
“It’s amazing to share the memories together as a family. I’m enjoying it more. I juggle it like every mum does.”
(Reporting by Clare LovellEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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