“Coming from someone who has kids...” Belinda Bencic confronts disturbing messages after Ningbo thriller

Former world No. 4 Belinda Bencic revealed the brutal messages she received on social media, in which she was called a "prostitute" and received "rape" threats after a tight match against Yuliia Starodubtseva at the Ningbo Open. The Swiss player had to fight hard to overcome the Ukrainian, struggling more than expected when the victory seemed assured.

In a close match that lasted over three and a half hours, Bencic managed to build a strong lead in the third set, with two breaks and service in her favor. The Swiss served at 5-2 with a chance to close out the win, but she squandered a couple of match points, and Starodubtseva recovered one of the breaks. The Ukrainian maintained the momentum and managed to tie everything up at 5-5.

Nevertheless, Bencic (No. 14) managed to salvage a tough match—where it appeared the Ukrainian might complete the comeback—and the Swiss player ultimately secured the win 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 in three hours and 32 minutes. The match was intense from start to finish, with each set lasting over an hour. Bencic won 67% of her first-serve points, while Starodubtseva won 65%.

Bencic advanced to the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 Ningbo Open—her penultimate tournament of the season—where she will face world No. 7 Jasmine Paolini, who is looking to secure her spot in the WTA Finals with a deep run this week. After overcoming Starodubtseva, the 28-year-old Swiss star shared the large volume of hateful messages she received on social media.

In a post on her Instagram stories, Bencic showed the messages she received after the complicated match against the Ukrainian: "'No play tennis please loserrrrr!' a user wrote in her direct message. 'This is the nicest one I got today. Thank you @madchen_alexa Nice influencer profile btw,' Belinda wrote on the photo in her Instagram stories.

The Tokyo 2020 gold medalist shared a series of the insulting messages she received: "'I want to give you some advice. You don't know how to hold a racket, do I advise you to hold dicks. You have a bright future and I think you have a lot of experience as a prostitute.'"

Bencic responded: "I dont usually post this here, but today i feel like it. Just a few out of tousands. Why not @ahmad.moumani."

"'1000 ****** must rape... dirty bitch,' was another one of the comments she received. 'On another note. Coming from someone who has kids... @ale75danca,' Bencic responded."

Belinda Bencic is preparing to face the second seed, Jasmine Paolini, in the quarterfinals of the Ningbo Open this Friday. They have three previous encounters, with the Swiss player dominating the head-to-head 2-1. However, their last match went in favor of Paolini at the 2025 United Cup, a comfortable 6-1, 6-1 win, although that was when Bencic was just making her return to the Tour after her maternity break.

Paolini will have the chance to guarantee her place in the WTA Finals if she manages to secure the victory, while Bencic remains with live chances of finishing the season inside the top 10, although she will need to keep racking up wins this week in Ningbo and next week in Tokyo.