Belinda Bencic battles past a very good Eugenie Bouchard in Ostrava

Belinda Bencic had to fight really hard to defeat Eugenie Bouchard 6-7(7) 6-1 6-4 who put up a very good fight nearly making the match 3 hours long

Bencic had a very good week in Tallinn and she brought that good tennis to Ostrava as well. She faced a very inspired Eugenie Bouchard who battled hard in what was the best match she has played since returning from injury. The Canadian is showing herself to be fairly capable of playing on a level worthy of the top 100 and she will return there with time.

The opening set lasted well over an hour with Bencic taking an early 4-2 lead but Bouchard battling back to make it 5-4 for her. She squandered a set point in the next game and we went into a tiebreak where we saw three more set points for Genie.

She finally converted the 4th one to take the opening set 7-6(7). The second set was completely deflating for her as her tennis fell apart and Bencic cruised to a 6-1 finish. The final one was a proper battle once more as it lasted an hour once more.

Bencic was for the most part the better player and she took the lead midway through the set. She saved two break points in the final game to seal it 6-4.