United Cup: Bencic comeback thwarts Putintseva as Switzerland leads Kazakhstan 2-0

World No.12 Belinda Bencic opened her season with a tense 7-6(0), 6-3 win over No. 51 Yulia Putintseva on Day 1 of the United Cup, before Marc-Andrea Huesler extended Switzerland’s lead to 2-0 against Kazakhstan in Group B, here on Thursday.

Bencic secured the straight-sets win by coolly reeling in Putintseva, who led by a break early in both sets.

After falling behind 4-1 in the opening set, Bencic fought off three set points on her serve to level at 5-5. She took her momentum into the tiebreak, where she kept a clean sheet to secure the opening set after 72 minutes.

“The focus is there. I’m not really allowing myself or [coach Dmitry Tursunov is] not really allowing me to throw tantrums even though sometimes I feel like I have to vent a little bit, because that’s just me. I’m definitely trying to be very focused and in the moment and not be self-destructing but be, kind of in a positive way, to be mad. I have to really remind myself and everything, but I think it’s going to become a habit,” Bencic said.

“I just felt good staying in the match and really being positive, even though I felt like Yulia was playing really good, she was kind of really hitting the ball faster than normally, like she was going for it more. So I had to be patient until she breaks down,” she added.

Bencic pulled off another comeback in the second set, though with fewer dramatics. Despite falling behind 3-1, the Swiss Olympic champion never lost her composure. With both team captain Stan Wawrinka and coach Dmitry Tursunov urging her on, Bencic cleaned up her errors and ratcheted up the pressure to win the next five games.

“How can you not listen to such a champion when he’s telling you things. I was trying to listen, to focus, and do what I had to do,” Bencic said, referring to Wawrinka.

The victory leveled Bencic’s head-to-head against Putintseva to 3-3. Her next singles match will be against No.2 seed Poland, where she is likely to face No.1 Iga Swiatek.

Meanwhile, Huesler also needed to work hard, ultimately battling past 21-year-old Timofey Skatov 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 after 2 hours and 23 minutes.

Skatov scratched and clawed for his country inside Pat Rafter Arena, showing the talent that helped him to his first ATP Challenger Tour crown last October in Italy. But the Swiss was too calm under pressure, saving six of the seven break points he faced.

Huesler is playing the best tennis of his career at 26, sitting at a career-high No. 56 in the ATP Rankings. The lefty, who won his first ATP Tour title last year in Sofia, was just inside the Top 200 this time last year.

Wawrinka will have a chance to seal the tie for his country in the No. 1 men’s singles match Friday when he faces another playing captain, Alexander Bublik. The Kazakhstani leads their ATP Head to Head 2-0, with both their previous matches coming in 2022 (the second lasted three games before Wawrinka retired).

-IANS

“Get more sports news, cricket news, and football updates, log on to sportsdigest.in. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter and Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.”