Federer clan helps Bencic shock Venus
A pep talk from Roger Federer helped inspire Belinda Bencic to a major upset on the opening day of the Australian Open.
The 20-year-old came into the tournament in great form and knocked out last year’s runner-up Venus Williams 6-3, 7-5.
Twelve months after Venus was beaten by her sister Serena in the final, the family will not be represented in the second round of the tournament for the first time since 1997, before Bencic was even born.
She prepared for the year’s first grand slam by teaming up with Federer to represent Switzerland at the Hopman Cup, with the pair going on to lift the trophy.
And Bencic had support from the whole Federer family here, with the defending champion offering his advice before the match and congratulating her afterwards while his parents were courtside in Bencic’s player box.
She said: “I really admire that before the match in the
0 Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic celebrates her 6-3, 7-5 Australian Open victory over Venus Williams, who was last year’s runner-up. locker room he’s so relaxed, being funny with his team, or even with everyone. Then on court, he’s so focused.
“I think that’s the main thing I want to learn from him. Even off the court, a normal, humble person, really happy and trying to give advice and help someone like me. I think that makes him pretty special.”
After a stellar junior career, Bencic rose quickly through the senior ranks and two years ago was ranked seventh before injury problems struck. She tumbled all the way down to world No 312.
Not surprisingly, the win over Williams, who she had not taken a set off in four previous meetings, left Bencic beaming from ear to ear.
“It was amazing,” she said. “I think the level was great. She beat me four times before so I was really happy I took my chance this time.”
While Bencic had players commiserating over her draw, it proved much worse for her 37-year-old opponent, who made two grand slam finals and one semi-final in 2017. Williams gave credit to Bencic, saying: “I think she played well. I don’t think I played a bad match. She just played above and beyond.”