Swiss tennis star Belinda Bencic couldn’t hide her happiness after finally winning her first clay title.
On Sunday, No. 10 seed Bencic edged out fourth-seeded Ons Jabeur 6-1 5-7 6-4 in the Charleston final.
Seven years after winning her first WTA title, Bencic made a breakthrough on clay and lifted her first clay title.
Bencic now has six WTA titles in her collection.
“Super proud to win the first title on clay,” Bencic said after winning her first clay title and her first title of the year, per the WTA Tour website. “I think it was a week where I was fighting. I was two points away from the exit in the first round, and I feel like this is how you win the tournament.
“I’m just really relieved I served it out. I think Ons, she took everything from me today. And at some point I just really didn’t know what to do anymore, and I think she played great in the second set … I was just trying to fight every point.
“It means a lot, and especially this is the 50th anniversary of [the tournament], and it makes me so happy that I am among those names, especially when I saw yesterday all the former champions.”
Bencic came up big in key moments against Jabeur
The two players were tied at one games apiece after the opening two games, before Bencic claimed back-to-back breaks and won five games in a row to win the first set in style.
After winning the first set, Bencic started the second set with a break in the opening game.
Down by a set and a break, Jabeur responded well as she broke Bencic in the second and sixth games to take a 4-2 lead in the second set.
Jabeur got broken back in the seventh game but kept her focus as she broke Bencic again int he 11th game and served out for the second set in the following game.
Both players struggled on their serves at the start of the third set as a total of four breaks were seen in the opening six games of the decider.
The score was tied at 3-3, before Bencic claimed her third break of the set to take a 4-3 lead.
Bencic didn’t allow Jabeur to break her back for the third set as she held on to her serve the rest of the set to clinch a three-set win.