Belinda Bencic beat Ons Jabeur in the final of the Charleston Open to win the first title of her career on clay. The Swiss, seeded 10th, needed over two and a half hours to finish with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory.
Bencic won almost 71% of her first-serve points to Jabeur’s 52% and 38% of her second-serve points to the Tunisian’s 43%. Bencic lost her serve five times across the match but also converted seven break points on Jabeur’s serve. This was the second time the two were playing against each other and now, Bencic has a 2-0 win-to-loss record against Jabeur.
Charleston Open: Belinda Bencic’s the last woman standing
Post-match, Bencic shared, “Super proud to win the first title on clay. 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.”
For both Belinda Bencic and Ons Jabeur, this was the first time they’d reached the final of the Charleston Open. In fact, for Bencic, this was the first time she’d made it through to the final of an event played on clay. The 24-year-old’s now the first Swiss player in 23 years to win the title in the American event since Martina Hingis did so in 1999.Â
Photo Credit: Charleston Open Twitter