Belinda Bencic takes a valuable comeback against Shelby Rogers in three sets (4-6, 7-5, 6-2) in their duel for the third round of the WTA 500 series in Charleston. The Swiss will meet the Russian Ekaterina Aleksandrova in the quarterfinals.
tournament draw
tournament results
One of the last 16 round duels in Charleston. Belinda Bencic became the favorite after winning her debut against Canada’s Katherine Sebov, dropping just three games. The Swiss has started the year brilliantly in Adelaide and Abu Dhabi. For him Shelby Rogers She played two tight games and bounced back against compatriots Danielle Collins and Caty McNally.
There were four clashes between them Bencic leads with a 4-0 record. The most recent crossover, in the quarterfinals of the WTA Abu Dhabi 2023 tournament, with a win for the Swiss, just one of the two tournaments she won this year.
Bencic, to the quarterfinals
A remarkable start from Bencic, who was very solid on serve and quickly took advantage of Rogers’ moment of error to create the first break and put himself 3-0 up. The American was unable to stand on the court, despite having to overcome two break balls from the Swiss to stretch the gap. However, Rogers knew how to turn things around and pressured the Swiss, who started with the most erratic spell of his level and lost his serve to nil, so the score was suddenly tied. After another break in a row the North American finished the first set 6-4.
Belinda started better again in the second set, absorbing well the blow of losing the previous one like that. Despite being on the break again, Rogers returned to the woods with a deep return and a solid hand to immediately regain the break. Everything was very tight in this part, although the pressure was completely on Switzerland’s side. Nevertheless, Belinda herself was very solid on her serve and won nine points in a row to take a 6-5 lead. Bencic would make it 7-5 in this set, taking the definition to the third set.
Now the current Top 10 was taking control of the match and quickly fell apart again. Still unable to play many first serves, Bencic took advantage of Rogers making many straight errors on the return and the Swiss took the lead on the scoreboard. The American looked to close the score quickly, but found himself overwhelmed when his rival managed to land two or three quality shots, especially with a masterful backhand. After some unforced errors from Rogers’ forehand The match culminated in a net backlash, so the Swiss sealed the victory with a final score of 6-2.
