Belinda Bencic was inches away from exiting the Miami Open in the first round but that scenario was avoided after her late surge helped her come back from a 3-5 third-set deficit and edge out world No. 42 Dayana Yastremska 6-4 1-6 7-5.
Today, the Swiss tennis star played her first match in Miami since 2023 as she missed last year’s tournament edition because she was on maternity leave. And her first match back at the tournament was a two-hour and 38-minute thriller but ultimately it finished well for the former world No. 4.
Had Bencic lost, this would have been her first opening-round defeat in 2025 – she is playing her sixth tournament of the year. By beating Yastremska, the current world No. 45 set up a second-round battle against 22nd-seeded Elina Svitolina, who had a first-round bye.
How Bencic beat Yastremska?
In the first set, the Swiss earned the lone break of the set in the third game. However, it’s not that her Ukrainian rival didn’t have her chances as the world No. 42 had break points in three separate games but failed to convert any of her eight break points.
After missing out on eight break points in the first set, Yastremska started realizing her chances and went 5-0 up in the second set before serving out for a decider in the seventh game.
At the start of the third set, the Ukrainian blew a very early break but collected another in the third game before opening a 5-3 lead. Serving for the match in the 10th game, the world No. 45 got broken and she reacted by smashing her racket.
Bencic definitely noticed Yastremska being very frustrated at that point and the Swiss wisely didn’t push for too much and just forced the Ukrainian into making mistakes – which resulted in the former world No. 4 winning the 11th and 12th games and completing her comeback win.
Tennis World USA