An emotional Belinda Bencic was in tears after reaching the quarter-finals of Wimbledon for the first time thanks to a straight-set win against Ekaterina Alexandrova.
The Swiss player had been thrashed by her Russian opponent just two weeks ago at the Bad Homburg Open, but this meeting was a different story as Bencic produced an impressive display, holding her nerve in the high-pressure moments to win 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.
When victory was confirmed after 18th seed Alexandrova sent a forehand long, Bencic held her hands in the air before wiping back tears after finally getting past the fourth round at SW19.
The unseeded 28-year-old will next face either Mirra Andreeva or Emma Navarro for a place in the semi-finals.
“I always got stuck in the fourth round so it was important for me to break through to the quarter-final,” said the former world number four.
“It was crazy stress out there but I was so happy to break her in the end. The atmosphere was unbelievable.
“I tried to be more brave. I had a few weeks of good practice and matches under my belt.”
Bencic has been in good form since becoming a mother last year, winning the Abu Dhabi Open in February, just 10 months after giving birth.
She was the underdog in this match though, given 30-year-old Alexandrova beat her 6-1 6-2 at the Bad Homburg Open two weeks ago and was seeded for Wimbledon.
But Bencic raced into a 4-1 lead and although Alexandrova battled back to force a tie-break, the Swiss player held her nerve to take the opening set.
The second set was closer until Bencic secured the first break at 4-3 after fighting back from 30-0.
It seemed like Alexandrova would edge her way back into the match as she broke back immediately, but Bencic rallied to win again on her opponent’s serve and seal the match.
“It has been really amazing,” she said of travelling to tournaments with her child. “I am really proud of myself and the whole team. I am really enjoying it.
“It is amazing to share the memories as a family. I feel like as a family I am taking more pictures!”
Nineteenth seed Liudmila Samsonova also progressed after beating Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 7-5 7-4.
Samsonova has been in strong form at Wimbledon so far and had lost just 13 games in her previous three matches.
She was given a sterner test by Bouzas Maneiro but sealed the straight-set win in one hour and 43 minutes to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final.
