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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.<\/b><\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The unseeded 28-year-old will next face either Mirra Andreeva or Emma Navarro for a place in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
“It was crazy stress out there but I was so happy to break her in the end. The atmosphere was unbelievable.<\/p>\n
“I tried to be more brave. I had a few weeks of good practice and matches under my belt.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The second set was closer until Bencic secured the first break at 4-3 after fighting back from 30-0. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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. <\/p>\n
“It is amazing to share the memories as a family. I feel like as a family I am taking more pictures!”<\/p>\n
Nineteenth seed Liudmila Samsonova also progressed after beating Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 7-5 7-4.<\/p>\n
Samsonova has been in strong form at Wimbledon so far and had lost just 13 games in her previous three matches.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n