Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo

Women’s Semifinal: [CR6] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) vs. [CR15] Belinda Bencic (SUI)

Bencic defeated another top ten opponent and continues her impressive performance of 2015. She has already won two prestigious titles this season and had an opportunity to make it three.  At eighteen years old, Bencic is showing not only her talent as a tennis player but her intelligence on court against older and more experienced players.  Add to the above her feisty personality and her very competitive nature and you begin to understand why I find her matches enjoyable.  I am always curious to see what new tactic she will employ.  She takes the pace off the ball very nicely and is quite creative in mixing up her shots.  She is also not afraid to approach the net, throwing her opponents off-balance by her willingness to do so at such a young age.  All of this comes from her confidence and belief in her game.

This was their fifth encounter.  In 2014, Wozniacki defeated Bencic, 6-0, 6-0.  That was the last time Bencic lost a set to Wozniacki. She apparently has figured out what it takes to beat Wozniacki, reinforcing my observation that she is a very intelligent young lady.  She learns from her losses and is gifted enough to make the necessary adjustments to her game in her desire to change the outcome of her match.  Today’s 6-2, 6-4 victory was her fourth consecutive defeat of Wozniacki in 2015.  While Bencic is brimming with confidence, Wozniacki has been struggling to consistently maintain her confidence during matches.  She has had some very questionable losses of late and the once dominant player is trying to regain the form that had her ranked as high as number one.