Belinda Bencic on returning after motherhood: “You feel like you’re starting from zero”
WTA
Belinda Bencic spoke about her successful return to the Tour after a year-long maternity break, following her victory over none other than the World No. 3 Coco Gauff in the Indian Wells Round of 16. The 28-year-old Swiss returns to the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 brimming with confidence and awaits her Thursday clash against the 2025 Australian Open champion, Madison Keys.
Several players have returned to the Tour after becoming mothers, though not many manage to regain their top form so quickly. Bencic already boasts a 17-4 record in 2025 and a title at the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open.
In the press conference after her win against Gauff, Bencic was asked whether she considers this her "new version," and whether “Bencic 2.0 is better than Bencic 1.0” (before motherhood): “I don't think there is a Bencic 2,” smiled the former World No. 4.
“So I don't think I'm better or not. It's just part of my life. I don't think that now everything's changed just because I have a baby. First of all, I didn't have a baby to improve my career. I had a baby because we felt like that's our purpose of life. That’s what we want. That came at the right time in our lives.
“It had nothing to do with my decision of tennis or not or if I'm going to be better than before or not. I don't think there is a Bencic 1, Bencic 2, Bencic 3. If you count how many times I came back, there should be a Bencic 7 (smiling),” she added. “I just feel the same, and I don't want to compare all the time if I'm better or not.”
The Swiss also spoke about how tough it was to get back into shape after giving birth to her first daughter Bella in April 2024. Less than seven months later, she was already competing in her first ITF tournaments after falling outside the Top 1000 due to her long absence from the circuit.
“Yeah, I mean, definitely. I didn’t mean this at all in a bad way, because I just keep getting, like, more questions like this,” she stated. “So I just want to clarify that because sometimes I feel like people thought that, you know, I would take a break just because it would improve my tennis.”
“Obviously, like, the work I have put in, yes, for sure, like we were able to do a clean start. But obviously it’s not easy after maternity leave, you know, to do all the work again. You know, you feel almost like physically you’re doing stuff from zero.
“It’s just your body changing so much in a short period of time,” added the 2021 Olympic gold medalist. “So I think it was really difficult, but I definitely feel like physically, I am there like before.”
Match Statistics Gauff vs. Bencic
| Gauff | VS | Bencic |
|---|---|---|
| Service | ||
| 4 | Aces | 0 |
| 8 | Double Faults | 3 |
| 69% (60/87) | 1st Service Percentage | 73% (65/89) |
| 78% (47/60) | 1st Service Points Won | 69% (45/65) |
| 33% (9/27) | 2nd Service Points Won | 50% (12/24) |
| 40% (2/5) | Break Points Saved | 0% (0/2) |
| 79% (11/14) | Service Games | 86% (12/14) |
| Return | ||
| 31% (20/65) | 1st Return Points Won | 22% (13/60) |
| 50% (12/24) | 2nd Return Points Won | 67% (18/27) |
| - | Break Points Saved | - |
| Other | ||
| 2h 21m | Match Duration | 2h 21m |
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