Crazy method helped Belarusian out of trouble
Now the former “double fault queen” is waiting for Bencic
Belinda Bencic is in the round of 16 at the Australian Open for the first time in seven years. Now she meets an in-form top player in Aryna Sabalenka who has undergone an amazing transformation.
Published: 35 minutes ago
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Belinda Bencic is in the round of 16 in Melbourne after a strong first week of the tournament.
Marco Pescioreporter sports
Belinda Bencic grins proudly. Sure, the third round victory over the Italian Camila Giorgi (31, WTA 70) is mainly responsible for her good mood at this point. But the 25-year-old is no less happy to talk about a little anecdote from training after the 6: 2, 7: 5 win. From there it got through that she had served excellently in a duel with her new coach Dmitri Tursunov (40). “Even two aces” she beat the former top 20 player, she says with a laugh in the SRF interview.
At the press conference after the game against Giorgi, she jokes that one could talk about this topic longer: “He can’t read my service – and he doesn’t return it well.”
The fact that Bencic has looked so relaxed after her first round of 16 entry at the Australian Open since 2016 is also thanks to this new coach. Tursunow has been at the side of the eastern Swiss since late autumn and has so far had very good access to Bencic and her game with effective inputs and his direct manner. The results in 2023 speak for him and his work. First Bencic won the title in Adelaide, then she started well in Melbourne and has now equaled her best result in the “Happy Slam” by reaching the round of 16.
All results from the Australian Open
The first tennis highlight is coming up in Melbourne: Click here for an overview of the results of the Australian Open.
The first tennis highlight is coming up in Melbourne: Click here for an overview of the results of the Australian Open.
Sabalenka’s Double Fault Festival
Tursunow is also the reason why Bencic not only has an ace up his sleeve in training against their coach, but now also in the next game in Melbourne. There, 24-year-old Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka is waiting, a player who knows Tursunov very well because he once coached her.
But what he couldn’t have missed is the amazing transformation that Sabalenka has recently made. It wasn’t long ago that today’s world number 5 was notorious for its severe service difficulties. At the Australian Open last year, she made 19 double faults in a single game. This increased over the course of the season to an incredible interim value of 310 double faults in 37 matches.
But the self-proclaimed “double fault queen” left no stone unturned, pulled a biomechanist and a sports scientist to the side during training, and worked meticulously on her technique. With success. Sabalenka now delivers top values. She won the first of two Adelaide tournaments this year. In Melbourne she is still without losing a set. And most important for her: At the Australian Open she only made seven double mistakes – in three games.
Now, on Monday, there will be a cracker duel with world number 10 Bencic, who is also in a really good mood. Not only because of the small training successes against their coach.