Bencic Dismisses Comparisons to Pre-Baby Self: 'I Didn't Have a Baby to Improve My Career'
NewsThursday, 13 March 2025 at 13:44
Belinda Bencic continues to impress on the tennis courts, but she doesn't want to compare her tennis career to the period before she became a mother.
Bencic won the Abu Dhabi Open this year, and she has now also reached the quarter-finals at the 2025 Indian Wells Open. The Swiss player overcame Coco Gauff in a dramatic three-setter that was decided only by a few points.
It was another big win for the former Olympic gold medalist, who is among the ten highest-ranked players in the 2025 WTA Race (ranking that reflects points earned in 2025).
Bencic has played against Gauff this year already. She lost to her at the Australian Open despite winning the first set. The American won that match 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.
The 28-year-old Swiss player with Slovak roots was asked about that match after beating Gauff in Indian Wells. She admitted that she felt much better physically in the United States compared to their match in Australia.
"Obviously tennis-wise, I still thought it was a great match in Australia. I just felt like she outplayed me in a way. It was a very hot day, and I felt like in the end I was out of steam in Australia. Obviously she was playing very good. I mean, what changed is that I just kept on working also on the physical side."
"I felt like in the last matches in tournaments, I kind of was able to play back to back, some three-set matches, and am fresher every time, you know, after the match, like, I'm not as tired or just the body is holding up much better, almost like it was before. So I'm really happy about that. I guess that's what we were working on."
Bencic has enjoyed great success after coming back to the WTA Tour. She gave birth to her daughter Bella, who often appears with her at tennis tournaments.
But Bencic isn't one of the players who would separate her career into two parts. She just sees becoming a mother as part of her tennis career and not something that should define her career in some way.
"I don't think there is a Bencic 2. I don't think I'm better or not. It's just part of my life. I don't think that now everything's changed just because I have a baby. First of all, I didn't have a baby to improve my career. I had a baby because we felt like that's our purpose of life. That's what we want. That came in the right time of our lives."
"It had nothing to do with my decision of tennis or not or if I'm going to be better than before or not. I don't think there is a Bencic 1, Bencic 2, Bencic 3. If you count how many times I came back, there should be a Bencic 7 (smiling). I just feel the same, and I don't want to compare all the time if I'm better or not."
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