Belinda Bencic: The Rise of a Future Tennis Star

Belinda Bencic is a teenager with a possibly bright future ahead of her.

Belinda Bencic made gambling news when she became the second person to beat Serena Williams this season. The Swiss teenager went on to defeat Simona Halep, another top 10 player. Bencic played with resilience and poise. Although she almost lost several times during the tournament, her play hasn’t been anything less than impressive. Her week at the Roger’s Cup tournament was a rewarding experience for her. In the upcoming U.S. Open Bencic’s odds might be as valuable as Nishikori odds.

• Beat Simona Halep and 3 other top 10 players to win the Roger’s Cup
• Trained under Melani Molitor and attended Bollettieri Academy briefly
• Won her first WTA tournament at Eastbourne in 2015

“I was very overwhelmed from the situation on the court, but I’m just so happy the forehand landed in [on match point].” The 18-year old just won her first WTA title weeks ago in Eastbourne. Although she was ranked 212th in the world in 2014, her most recent victory may position her as high as 16. Bencic is one of a “new crop” of young players whose beginning to show signs of potential dominance in women’s tennis.

Belinda Bencic’s beginnings and entrance into junior tennis

Belinda Bencic was born in Switzerland in March of 1997. Although she was born in Switzerland, her parents come from Slovakia. The Swiss player began playing at four and by seven was learning at a tennis school ran by Melanie Molitor, the mother of tennis star Martina Hingis. In addition, Bencic had six months of training at the prestigious Nick Bollettieri Academy in Florida.

You can’t start too early

In 2012, the Swiss 15 year old started her season by winning G18 (junior) tournaments in the Czech Republic. She moved on to reach the quarterfinals of a professional International Federation of Tennis (ITF) tournament in Leimen, Germany. In a couple of months she entered another ITF tournament and lost in the third round. After losing in the semi-final of another professional tournament, Bencic returned to junior tournaments securing a win in France.

Her short time in the WTA tour, accelerated her tennis as Bencic was able to win a fourth title in Italy. The defeat of former top-20 player Elena Bovina, during a qualifying match in the WTA Brussels Open, ranked Belinda at 951 in the world. After two disappointing defeats at the Junior French Open and the UNICEF Open, the young Swiss player failed to impress any tennis critics.

Upon further losses in Canadian Junior Open and Junior U.S. Open, few handicappers had the insight to predict her effect on online sportsbooks in the US. Returning to the professional tour, Bencic won USD 10,000 at an Egyptian tournament. A week later she won her second pro tournament. Getting a wildcard, Bencic entered the Luxembourg Open and suffered a loss to then-world-number one Venus Williams. The loss helped young Swiss player gain a new world ranking of 614. She would continue to play professional and junior tournaments simultaneously into next year.

Belinda Bencic reached Junior number one and eventually world number 20

Belinda Bencic started 2013 impressively in Junior competition and a quarterfinal win in Melbourn gave her a world number 351 ranking by the WTA. After winning the Junior French Open and Junior Wimbledon titles, she had a Junior ranking of number two. Losing in the Junior U.S. Open, she went on to the Toray Pan Pacific Open where she won her first professional match.

Belinda had impressive performances making a quarterfinal and semi-final appearance in some Japanese tournaments. After she reached the semi-finals in Dunlop World Challenge, her ranking reached 184. After appearances in the Pattaya Open and Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Bencic moved up to 137th. In 2014 after a lengthy run in the Family Circle Cup, she reached the semi finals and finally broke in the WTA top 100.

Finally reaching a ranking of 80, Bencic qualified for the French Open where she would lose to Serena Williams in straight sets. At Wimbledon, the Swiss Player was able to reach the third round. 2015 started rough for the future Roger’s Cup champion and anyone supporting her through mobile betting. Losing in the first round of the Australian Open, Bencic finally won a WTA match in Dubai. Fortunately she made fourth round appearances in Miami and Indian Wells defeating heavyweights Wozniacki and Jankovic.

Although she won only one match at the French Open, Bencic reached the final at the Topshelf Open. Despite a second round loss in Birmingham, the Swiss player had her first WTA tournament win at Eastbourne. At Wimbledon, she reached the fourth round losing to Victoria Azerenka. As a world number 20, Belinda defeated Caroline Wozniacki, Anna Ivanovic and Williams and Halep to win the 2015 Roger’s Cup.