Toronto 11 Aug : Belinda Bencic defeated three-time champion Serena Williams 6-2, 6-4 at the National Bank Open to advance to the Round of 16 here on Thursday.In her first game following her essay in Vogue explaining the reasoning to retire, Williams was greeted by an enthusiastic ovation from the Toronto crowd as she began her journey her place on the court.
Williams was hoping to claim her first back-toback singles match in 2021 since she last played at Roland Garros, having won her Toronto opener in straight sets over Nuria Parrizas Diaz.
However, in the match that was a rematch of their epic semifinal match on this court in 2015 Bencic was able to dominate the match from start to end with her serve.
She is 25 years old and hails from Switzerland only had to contend with one break point in the match and she was able to save.
The way the match was won: Bencic also kept the return pressure off Williams from the opening game.Bencic was the Swiss took the toss and chose to take it the toss, and then earned two break points in the first game.Williams helped the Swiss with clutch serving however Bencic would later break Williams twice in the first set, and then seal the set after 41 minutes.
The second set was a little more even as Williams was able to achieve better results with her serve, but Bencic finally broke in the game 3-3 after Williams made a double-fault at break point.Bencic won the match within 1 hour and 17 minutes.
Bencic ended with 25 winners, compared to 13 unforced errors Williams was a close second, with Williams scored 13 winners and 18 unforced mistakes.
Following the game, Williams stayed on court and fought back tears as she left the Toronto crowd.
“It was an overwhelming amount of emotions evidently,” Williams told the crowd.”I am so happy to be here, and I’ve always loved playing here.I wish I had played better , but Belinda did very well today.It’s been a fascinating 24-hour period.”
“As I wrote in the article, I’m awful with goodbyes.But, I’m sorry to say goodbye Toronto.”
“Of course it’s lovely but it’s also somewhat sad in an aspect.I really don’t want to see her retire.I’ve always felt like I’ve, in a way you are aware of what she has accomplished and all of her achievements and career and everything else.However, now that it’s about to end, I’m feeling like everyone, including me are realizing it more.Standing on the court with her today was an overwhelming experience I’d say,” Bencic said.
It’s going be a difficult task for Williams in the coming weeks “In some ways with her, it’s almost as if I’m in awe each time I meet her,” Bencic said.
“So it’s hard to match her.It’s difficult to sort of let that go and concentrate on the game.Because I feel like I do not know how I perform because I feel like I’m in a state of paralysis as if I was the other players watching her.”
Bencic will take on Garbine Muguruza in the next match.
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