Bencic makes Charleston final for clay-court breakthrough

The
Swiss
reached
her
first
ever
WTA
Tour
final
on
the
red
dirt
of
the
Charleston
Open,
beating
semi-final
opponent
Ekaterina
Alexandrova
6-4
6-3.

Although
she
has
four
WTA
titles
to
her
name,
this
was
only
Bencic’s
third
last-four
appearance
on
clay
–
losing
the
prior
two,
including
a
2014
Charleston
challenge
as
a
17-year-old.

But
she
finally
has
glory
in
her
sights,
and
the
omens
are
good
for
the
final,
facing
Ons
Jabeur
having
won
their
only
prior
meeting
in
2021
at
the
Madrid
Open,
another
clay-court
event.

“I’m
happy
this
moment
came,”
Bencic
said.
“I
didn’t
think
it
would,
but
I’m
super
happy
with
how
I
played
today.
I
thought
it
was
a
great
match
in
tough
conditions.”

Ons!
Belinda!

Your

@CharlestonOpen
finalists!
pic.twitter.com/i6lotKZdSn

—
wta
(@WTA)

April
9,
2022

Bencic
needed
only
78
minutes
to
complete
the
job,
but
Jabeur
found
life
tougher,
forced
to
rally
from
a
set
down
to
Amanda
Anisimova.

The
20-year-old
American
had
herself
recovered
to
eliminate
top
seed
Aryna
Sabalenka
earlier
in
the
tournament
but
was
now
on
the
wrong
side
of
such
a
comeback.

Jabeur,
who
lost
in
the
final
of
the
WTA
250
Charleston
Open
II
last
year,
prevailed
2-6
6-1
6-4.

Meanwhile,
at
the
Copa
Colsanitas,
there
will
be
no
repeat
win
for
Camila
Osorio
after
the
defending
champion
and
top
seed
lost
to
Laura
Pigossi
in
straight
sets
in
the
semis.

Tatjana
Maria
is
now
Pigossi’s
opponent
in
the
title
match.