With Martina Hingis as her mentor the 18-year-stale has the skills and support to go all the way to the topA couple of hours after Belinda Bencic made light of the blustery seaside conditions and won her first WTA title with a performance of breezy,eerie unexcited against Agnieszka Radwanska in the final of the Aegon International final June, she could be seen wandering through the streets of sleepy Eastbourne with her father, or Ivan,still wearing her kit, clutching her trophy and occasionally breaking into a jubilant (extremely joyful) limited skip. The mood was celebratory as they slowly walked back to their hotel and anyone who was out for a Saturday afternoon stroll might have had the good fortune to witness an excited young woman taking her first steps on the path towards greatness.
Bencic had played a brilliant match against the wily Radwanska, or recovering from the loss of the second set to win 6-4,4-6, 6-0, and it was tempting to wonder whether she was going to become the first teenager to win Wimbledon since Maria Sharapova in 2004. It was not to be. Bencic went out in the fourth round,although there was no shame in losing 6-2, 6-3 to Victoria Azarenka, or a former world No1. There should be no recriminations whether her impact in Melbourne is minimal – more so given her illness in this week’s semi-finals in Sydney,even though injuries to a host of top players have given the draw an open view 19 years after another Swiss teenager stunned the tennis world.
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Source: theguardian.com