Swiss teen reaching ‘normal’ on court

Bencic no longer overwhelmed by famous foes

TORONTO • She’s only 18 years old but Belinda Bencic is getting more comfortable playing against the top guns. Just last year, though, she remembers feeling star stuck when she was looking at Ana Ivanovic or Serena Williams on the other side of the net.

“When I played Serena in Madrid (last year) the first time, I already was like — I wasn’t even playing. I was just staring at her,” the rising Swiss player said. “Now I feel … I’ve seen them all (at) the players lounge and the locker room, so you can get used to that company. So you also try to play normal.”

If she keeps playing the way she has been this week in Toronto, she’ll quickly grow accustomed to playing top seeds late in tournaments.

In her first Rogers Cup, Bencic has taken out some of the top contenders in her run to the quarter-finals, having knocked off fan favourite Eugenie Bouchard, world No. 5 Caroline Wozniacki and, on Thursday, the fastest server on tour, Sabine Lisicki.

After Bencic won the first set handily, Lisicki came out firing in the second, setting up a tense deciding set. Having pushed the match to a deciding tiebreak, Bencic jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead. With a match point, Lisicki sent a return wide and Bencic raised her arms above her head, squealing with delight after earning the gritty 6-1, 1-6, 7-6 (3) victory.

“Being in the quarter-finals here, my first appearance is just amazing,” she said.

Before Bencic was making quarter-finals and facing off against tennis stars, she was actually being tutored by one of the all-time greats in Switzerland. When Bencic was seven, Melanie Molitor, mother of former No. 1 and five-time Grand Slam event winner Martina Hingis, offered to coach her. Through that partnership, Hingis became a mentor for Bencic and has helped her navigate through the WTA tour.

“She understands the game really well, and she can help me a lot with my tactical part and with the mental (part). How I have to be prepared for the games and just talk about the opponent every time before the match,” Bencic said of Hingis’ contributions.

There are similarities in their style of play, but Bencic shies away from comparisons to Hingis, who in 1997 became the youngest player to win a Grand Slam tournament at the age of 16.

“She was very, very young and so good,” Bencic said. “It’s impossible to achieve what she has achieved so early. And I really try to be my own player.”

Bencic is indeed making a name for herself on tour. In less than two years, Bencic has shot up the tour rankings, rising from No. 212 at the end of 2013 to No. 20 currently.

Along with her ranking improvement, Bencic also claimed her first WTA title this year at Eastbourne, defeating current world No. 14 Agnieszka Radwanska in three sets in June.

However, with quick rises can also come steep falls, and younger players can be especially prone to dips in consistency.

It’s a trend Bencic said she’s well aware of.

“That’s one of the things that young players really have to work at … I’m not consistent every tournament, like really it’s not really possible to play good every single tournament,” she said. “But now I feel like I’m improving as well and it’s also my goal to be playing consistent every tournament.”

In fact, Bencic herself got off to a slow start this year. After she became the youngest U.S. Open quarter-finalist since — you guessed it — Hingis did it in 1997, Bencic had three first-round exits to open the season. But when it was time for the grass-court season, she found her stride and said she’s developed a sense of confidence the last few months.

“You cannot be confident if you are losing. You have to practice and win matches if you want to be confident. You cannot just say, ‘OK, now I’m going to be confident.’”

In her upcoming Rogers Cup quarter-final on Friday, Bencic could meet Ivanovic, who dispatched 24-year-old qualifier Polona Hercog 6-3, 6-2 in the final match of the night.

As for Bencic’s game plan if she comes up against Ivanovic?

“I hope tomorrow I can be more, like, calm,” she said.