After three trips to the fourth round at the All England Club, her first coming 10 years ago, Belinda Bencic is finally a Wimbledon quarterfinalist.
The 28-year-old, less than a year into her comeback after becoming a mother, overcame potent, powerful Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6(4) 6-4 on Monday.
The result sends her through to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal away from the US Open, and puts her within three wins of a title she cherishes above all others.
“I always felt like I’m putting almost too much pressure on myself because I love to be here so much. I really want to do so well here,” said Bencic, who missed five match points when serving at 5-3 in the second set, before converting her sixth in the next game.
“For me it’s the best tournament in the world and I’m so happy to be here and keep going and have another chance.”
In a Championships beset by upsets, the eventual quarterfinal line-up on the women’s side is stacked with quality.
Multiple Grand Slam champions Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek are there, as is fellow top-eight seed Mirra Andreeva.
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Pundits’ semifinal prediction Amanda Anisimova has also made it to the last eight and so too Liudmila Samsonova, a two-time WTA tournament champion on grass. There’s also 2021 Roland Garros finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Bencic, a former world No.4.
Bencic returned to professional tennis as an unranked mother last October following 13 months away, yet has already trimmed her ranking to 35th.
A Wimbledon junior champion in 2013 who felt an immediate affinity for grass when she first set foot on it, she looms as one of the more formidable players remaining.
She owns 50 tour-level match wins on grass – the most of any women’s quarterfinalist this year – and a winning rate on the surface approaching 70 per cent.
The former Eastbourne champion enters her quarterfinal match-up against Andreeva with the confidence of having won six of her seven career grasscourt quarterfinals.
She was also one point away from an eight grasscourt quarterfinal at Wimbledon in 2023, before Swiatek staged a dramatic Centre Court comeback to deny her.
“I’m happy I finally got through today from the fourth round; I always got stuck in the fourth round,” she laughed in a Tennis Channel interview. “I’m really happy with how I played better from round to round and I’m improving on the court, so I hope to continue like that.”
This is just the second Grand Slam tournament of Bencic’s comeback, and she has advanced to the second round of both.
Daughter Bella was born in April 2024 and when Bencic chose to resume competing she did so at the lower ITF level, accruing match wins and confidence before a full-scale tour return in 2025.
She immediately flourished, reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open, winning the WTA 500 title Abu Dhabi – as a wildcard ranked outside the top 150 – then reaching the Indian Wells quarterfinals.
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Not far off a Wimbledon seeding herself, she rebounded spectacularly against 18th seed Alexandrova, who crushed Bencic 6-1 6-2 when they met in Bad Homburg a fortnight ago.
“I feel great on the practice court,” Bencic revealed. “When I was coming back, that's why I felt like I came back earlier than expected.
“I'm also surprised about how fast the results are coming. I think it's just really a result of the work we put in and also the mindset that I have now.
“Of course, you could see I'm trying my best to win. I'm fighting with everything I have on the court. [But] I think it's much different now.
“As I said, I am surprised. But of course, I'm not going to complain about it.”
No mother has won a Grand Slam singles title since Kim Clijsters at the 2009 US Open, and the last to prevail at Wimbledon was Evonne Goolagong 45 years ago.
As the second week of the tournament unfolds, we’ll see if history is re-written.
“I don't look at the draw and see, like, Okay, I'm the last mom, I have to win. That's not how it works,” Bencic said.
“When I'm on court, I'm the same tennis player like I was before. I am doing the best as I can on the court. I'm still very – how do you say – not emotional, but I really care a lot about my sport.
“I want to do the best.”