Belinda Bencic outlasts Leylah Fernandez in late-night Guadalajara marathon thriller

World No.14 Belinda Bencic was forced to dig deep on Monday night at the Guadalajara Open Akron, surviving a second set collapse to defeat Leylah Fernandez and advance to the second round.

The Swiss star pulled off the 7-5 6-7(10) 6-3 victory in a battle that could have gone either way, as both ladies exchanged breaks several times in the see-saw encounter. Bencic was the stronger player in the opening set, outhitting her Canadian opponent to prevent a first set tiebreak.

Nonetheless, Fernandez rediscovered her rhythm in the second, as she eventually served for the set at 5-4. However, the 2021 US Open runner-up was unable to seal the deal, allowing the 10th seed back into the match. This lead to a tiebreak that saw Bencic squander three match points, with Fernandez finally capitalizing on her mini-break opportunity to clinch the set and force a decider.

Despite the crowd firmly rooting for the Canadian, it was Bencic who obtained an early break to lead 2-0. However, the former World No.4 struggled with her serve, a problem that had bothered her the entire match. The Swiss star committed a total of 13 double faults, with five coming in the final set. Although this allowed Fernandez to break back, the 20-year old was unable to minimize the errors in her game. This led to Bencic obtaining another break, before serving out the match after two hours and 45 minutes.

Having notched her first win in three tries against Fernandez, Bencic will move on to face American Sloane Stephens in the second round.