Bencic Turns Tables on Paolini in Perth Pressure Cooker
Belinda Bencic outlasted Jasmine Paolini 6-4, 6-3 in a break-filled battle, avenging past defeats to give Switzerland a commanding 1-0 lead in the United Cup and inching them toward the quarterfinals.
In the steady hum of Perth’s RAC Arena, Belinda Bencic delivered a gritty 6-4, 6-3 win over Jasmine Paolini, handing Switzerland a vital 1-0 edge in their United Cup tie against Italy. The victory builds on Stan Wawrinka’s three-hour grind over Arthur Rinderknech the day before, positioning the Swiss to claim first in Group C. Wawrinka faces Flavio Cobolli next; a win there seals the deal, though mixed doubles waits if the Italian pulls even.
Bencic’s path to this moment carried echoes of two tight 2025 losses to the world No. 8—one a three-setter in Ningbo, the other in last year’s group stage here. Now 2-0 in singles after her 6-2, 6-4 dismissal of Leolia Jeanjean on Saturday, she flipped the rivalry with backhand precision that cut through Paolini’s defenses. The 1-hour, 53-minute affair tested both, but Bencic’s mental reset proved decisive.
“I’m really happy with today’s match,” Bencic said on court. “I lost to her really close at the end of last season. I really had to organize my mind that ‘now it’s my time, I can do it.’ I thought it was a bit mental today.”
Breaks trade in first-set frenzy
The opening set erupted into five straight breaks, a baseline duel where returns ruled over serves on the medium-fast hard courts. Bencic grabbed the fifth with a crosscourt backhand return that skimmed past Paolini, pushing her to 4-2 and exposing the Italian’s occasional overhit on low-skidding balls. Her heavy topspin forehands then pinned Paolini deep, creating space for inside-out angles that the surface amplified.
Paolini fired back, erasing triple break point to hold and then cracking Bencic’s delivery for 4-4, her flat groundstrokes forcing errors in the lengthening rallies. The crowd’s tension thickened with each shift, the Perth air carrying whispers of momentum swings. But Bencic halted the surge cold, breaking again with an on-the-run backhand pass down the line—one of 10 backhand winners that night—before holding to snag the set.
Pressure mounts in second-set surge
Paolini held to open the second, but Bencic broke twice quickly, racing to 3-1 as her one-two pattern of serve and forehand return wore down the Italian’s footwork. At 4-3 down, Paolini saved seven game points in a gritty deuce, her underspin slices disrupting Bencic’s net approaches just enough to stay in it. The world No. 11, ranked 11th herself, absorbed the resistance and struck for her sixth break, closing 6-3 with unyielding focus.
This win not only avenges those prior setbacks but sharpens Switzerland’s quarterfinal path, with Wawrinka’s clash adding intrigue. Paolini, now 0-1, meets Jeanjean next against France, where adapting to Bencic’s backhand blueprint will test her resilience. As the United Cup group stage tightens, Bencic’s poise signals a Swiss team blending endurance and precision for a deeper run Down Under.
