Coco Gauff Shows Terrific Mental Toughness In Comeback Win Against Belinda Bencic
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Coco Gauff's dream of winning a maiden Australian Open title remains alive after she fought back to win an outstanding match against Belinda Bencic.
Gauff entered the match with confidence after a convincing victory against Leylah Fernandez. She improved her level significantly from the opening two rounds and demonstrated her credentials as one of the favorites for the title.
The Australian Open's tournament director, Craig Tiley, was among those who backed Gauff to win the title after an excellent last few months, which included winning her maiden WTA Finals crown in November.
However, Bencic was always likely to present a stiffer challenge than the opening three rounds. The Olympic gold medalist has made an impressive return to tennis after missing almost the entire 2024 season due to being on maternity leave.
Bencic reached the fourth round when Naomi Osaka retired from their match after the first set. Although the contest was cut short, the Swiss showed her quality in a high-quality set that she won on a tiebreak.
Gauff and Bencic struck the ball crisply from the start. It was noticeable how well the former world No. 4 stayed with Gauff in the backhand-to-backhand rallies since the American is widely considered to have the best backhand on the WTA Tour.
Although both women consistently got serves into play, there were no break point chances until the sixth game when the pre-match underdog hit an ace out wide to get herself out of trouble.
Bencic struck first at 4-4 after Gauff made some forehand unforced errors to be broken. It seemed like the Swiss then blew her chance after missing a routine forehand midway up the court at 30-15 before losing her serve.
However, the set swung back in the 27-year-old's favor in the following two games. Gauff was broken again after hitting two consecutive double faults at deuce, which was especially frustrating for her after she had saved three break points in that game with big serves.
The 2023 US Open champion saved two set points in the next game, including a stunning backhand return winner, but Bencic took her chance at the third time of asking to take the opening set 7-5.
Gauff briefly went off the court before the second set. The quick refresh seemed to help her. She raced into a 3-0 lead after dominating the baseline exchanges with consistent depth and power behind her groundstrokes.
The 20-year-old looked set to create two more break points in the fourth game, but Bencic somehow stole a point at 15-30 after retrieving a smash by Gauff from deep in the court before showing more incredible defense to win the point. Bencic held from there to make it 3-1.
Gauff faced danger at 4-2, 0-30 but found four good first-serves at the right time to hold. Bencic then played her loosest game of the match to hand Gauff the second set and take the entertaining battle to a decider.
The fourth game of the third set proved crucial. Bencic hit a backhand at game point up that hit the top of the net but rolled on the wrong side of the net for her. The Swiss then surprisingly missed two easy shots by her standards to finish the points, handing Gauff the break.
Bencic, understandably after being away from tennis for so long on maternity leave, then began to struggle physically in the hot conditions. Her battle with Gauff had been very physical, and it started to show.
That factor helped Gauff swiftly win the final three games. The world No. 3 triumphed 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 in a match that showed her technical quality and ability to dig in after a setback.
