With the pole, Switzerland is in for a huge task in the last 16 of Wimbledon. The expectation is still great.
Thanks to a convincing victory, Belinda Bencic reached the last 16 at Wimbledon for the first time in five years. In the third round match against Poland’s Magda Linette, Eastern Switzerland performed as it did in its best time so far, when it won the Olympic gold medal and climbed to fourth place in the world rankings.
With 6:3, 6:1, 14th in the championship he didn’t give Linette, who was only ten places behind, the slightest chance – even though her shoulder and arm were bound. After the convincing success, she said, “I had a feeling that I had everything under control, and that felt good.”
Bencic’s performance on Friday was nothing compared to his stuttering second-round win over Daniel Collins. One reason: the weather. In London, it was hot in the summer for the first time this week. “I much prefer it that way,” Bencic confirmed. “I hate the cold when it’s windy and ‘too scary’ Like the first game.”
I’m the one who can go all out. If you lose, nothing happens, and if you win, it’s incredible.
Another Pole awaits the 26-year-old on Sunday, at the same time as what is probably the biggest possible challenge in women’s tennis right now: world number one and Roland Garros champion Ija Switek. The four-time Grand Slam winner has yet to drop a set at the current tournament.
The 22-year-old Pole leads 2-1 head-to-head. Swiatek won the first duel in 2021 in the Adelaide final and the last meeting in January 2023 in the United Cup by two sets. In the round of 16 of the 2021 US Open, Bencic was able to prevail.
Will you succeed for the first time with the quarter-finals?
Bencic also believes in her chance at Wimbledon Park. “I love the challenge,” she says. “I am the one who can come up with everything. If I lose, nothing will happen, and if I win, it is incredible.” The fact that rain is expected for Sunday does not worry her. On the contrary: “If the roof were closed, it would be great for me.”
Bencic had not reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in two previous attempts. In 2015, Victoria Azarenka stood in the way of the Round of 16, three years after Angelique Kerber.
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