As the Eastbourne wind swirls, Bencic and Radwanska pose for the snappers. That’s just about it, but what an afternoon’s tennis we’ve seen. A new star is born, and Wimbledon isn’t even here yet. It soon will be, though. Just two more sleeps. Until then …
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“It’s a dream come true that I’ve won my first WTA title, I’m so happy”, gushes Bencic, adding that it’s one of the best days of her life. “I woke up very nervous but I just tried my best on the court,” she continues, thanking a camp that includes Martina Hingis, the original – and still the only – Swiss Miss.
As if things weren’t bad enough for Radwanska, she’s talking to John Inverdale at courtside. “I was very happy to reach the final here and tried my best, but she was better today,” says the Pole. She looks mighty disappointed.
Well, what a turn up that was. When Radwanska won the second set, it looked like she might turn it around. There was certainly no suggestion that Bencic would race away with a love set. The teenager looks delighted, and well she might. After all, she’s just received a jeroboam of Moet. Oh, and a rather splendid trophy. Still, Moet.
Bencic wins the third set 6-0 and is the new Eastbourne champion!
Third set: Radwanska* 0-6 Bencic (sets 1-1) Long rallies, close games, reversals of fortune – Belinda Bencic has seen them all in this match. It hasn’t bothered her one bit. She is the new Eastbourne champion, a status she secures by clubbing a forehand winner at 40-0. That’s a richly deserved and hugely impressive win. What a player she promises to be.
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Third set: Radwanska 0-5 Bencic* (sets 1-1) In case you’re wondering, Bencic is seeded 30th at Wimbledon and faces the Bulgarian No1 Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round. That won’t be easy, what with Pironkova being a former semi-finalist at the All England. Then again, Radwanska is a former finalist and that doesn’t seem to be bothering Bencic too much. The teenager is making mincemeat of her opponent now, pounding a winner on game point to secure a comfortable hold. “C’mon!!!” she cries. Steady now, Belinda, still a game to go.
Third set: Radwanska* 0-4 Bencic (sets 1-1) Seemingly not content with Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, Switzerland appear to have another world beater in the making. Her name is Belinda Bencic and, after another comfortable hold, she’s on the threshold of her first title on the main tour. Exciting times.
Third set: Radwanska* 0-3 Bencic (sets 1-1) A rasping backhand winner by Bencic brings up 15-40. Lovely footwork, lovely shoulder turn, lovely shot. Radwanska retrieves the first break point, but is out-Aggied – not for the first time, it must be said – when a rolled topspin forehand from the teenager pulls her too far out of court to cope. That’s a double break and the momentum is firmly, perhaps decisively, with the Swiss.
Third set: Radwanska 0-2 Bencic* (sets 1-1) Radwanska’s excursions to the net have been a growing feature of the match, as has her improved reading of the Bencic game. She’s anticipating much better at the net and that, combined with some solid rallying, gets her to deuce. But still she’s showing some maddening and untypical consistency, and Bencic capitalises to see out the game.
Third set: Radwanska* 0-1 Bencic (sets 1-1) Is Belinda Bencic really only 18? Someone check her birth certificate. What tremendous maturity she shows here. Refusing to let her head drop after losing that set, she is rewarded when a sharp foray to the net brings up game point at 30-40. A peach of a forehand, all angle and whip, gets her over the line and that’s impressive stuff from the teenager.
Radwanska wins the second set 6-4!
Second set: Radwanska 6-4 Bencic* (sets 0-1) We’re all square as experience tells, Bencic sending a forehand long after a lung-busting rally at 30-40. She’ll feel the resulting disappointment all the more after racing to a 30-0 lead in that game. But credit to Radwanska, who made the most of the glimpse of daylight offered when Bencic netted a half-volley before sending a forehand long. The Pole hasn’t been at her best, but she’s found a way back. A third set it is.
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Second set: Radwanska* 5-4 Bencic (sets 0-1) At this rate, these two will be knackered come Wimbledon. It’s a balmy afternoon, and there’s a real physicality about this duel now. Radwanska looks to be faltering a little at 15-30, but she somehow summons the energy to get forward before flicking another half-volley winner. How does she do that? I’m jealous. She’s still in and out, though, the Pole. A lamentable error at 30-30 is followed by a superb forehand winner, and that’s pretty much how it is for Radwanska just now. She holds eventually, though, another foray into the forecourt sealing the game, and Bencic will now have to serve to stay in the set.
Second set: Radwanska 4-4 Bencic* (sets 0-1) Radwanska will need to be at her cerebral best if she is to get back on terms here. The opening point suggests she’s getting there, a slight hesitation by Bencic proving enough for the Pole to slam a backhand winner down the line. But it’s a struggle for Radwanska, it really is. At 15-15, she frames a return after Bencic pulls her wide. Seconds later, she gets down superbly to strike an unanswerable backhand. It’s all so changeable; surprisingly, it’s Bencic who looks the steadier player. The Swiss is also showing flashes of brilliance: a tremendous running backhand that leaves Radwanska flat-footed in the forecourt; an inch-perfect ace wide to the ad court on break point down. In the end, though, it’s hard graft that gets her over the line, her willingness to match Radwanksa shot for shot reaping reward when the Pole sends an attempted drop shot into the net.
Second set: Radwanska* 4-3 Bencic (sets 0-1) A missed backhand at 30-15 is greeted by a puff of the cheeks from Radwanska. She was late on that ball and she knows it. Bencic punishes her by pounding a winner off a short serve on the next point, but Radwanska gets just enough on her next delivery to force Bencic to snatch at the return. Deuce. A couple of Bencic errors later and it’s game Radwanska, but she’s not happy. Far from it.
Second set: Radwanska 3-3 Bencic* (sets 0-1) Aside from her obvious gifts as a shotmaker, Bencic is demonstrating she’s a formidable match player. Many 18-year-olds would have suffered a letdown after falling 3-0 behind, but perhaps she is channeling the disappointment from her defeat in the Topshelf Open final the other week to ensure she isn’t denied a first WTA Tour title again. Overcoming a minor setback at 40-30, when Radwanska metes out stern treatment to a weak second serve – and another glitch at game point, when she throws in what was her first double-fault of the match – she shows admirable patience and calm. Radwanska is throwing everything in her arsenal at the youngster – slice, sidespin, topspin, subtle changes of pace, angle and depth – but, after an eight-minute struggle, Bencic finally holds. How important could that be in terms of the psychological balance of this match?
Second set: Radwanska* 3-2 Bencic (sets 0-1) Radwanska looks set to motor on – was that a little fist-pump after the forehand winner you hit at 30-15, Aggie? – only to falter anew. Bencic stays in the game long enough to take it to deuce, and at game point down a decisive forehand puts her back in contention. That wing is getting better and better, in fact, because she then follows up with a lovely running pass, whipped sharply across Radwanska after the Pole has pulled her out of position with an angled volley. Does that deflate Radwanska a little? Possibly, because although she carves out another game point with a beautifully guided forehand, she fails to convert the opportunity and follows up with an atrocious forehand drive volley. It’s no surprise when Bencic secures the break a few moments later. We’re back on serve – who’d have thought it?
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Second set: Radwanska 3-1 Bencic* (sets 0-1) Bencic is having to work a lot harder to win points now, but she rises to the challenge in this game. At 30-15, she finally emerges on the right side of an exchange of touch shots in the forecourt, and moments later she’s on the scoreboard again. Important hold for her confidence, that.
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Second set: Radwanska 3-0 Bencic* (sets 0-1) As Radwanksa races into a three-game lead courtesy of another ace, there’s a palpable shift in the tempo of the match. Bencic clearly feels it, because she’s called her father Ivan – who is also her coach – from the stands. Another pow-wow is in progress.
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Second set: Radwanska 2-0 Bencic* (sets 0-1) A notable stat from that opening set was that Radwanska made 11 unforced errors to Bencic’s nine. That’s very un-Aggie like, and she’ll be looking to rectify things. An early break seems a good place to start, and she gets one here to love, pulling Bencic every which way before outsmarting her at 0-40 when an angled exchange culminates with Bencic steering a backhand into the doubles alley. Game on.
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Second set: Radwanska* 1-0 Bencic (sets 0-1) If you needed a reminder of just what a classy player Radwanska is, it comes on the opening point when she casually flicks a backhand half-volley – one-handed, if you please – for an acutely-angled winner across the face of the net. An ace follows a couple of points later, and she seals the game to 15 after Bencic sends a return wide. It’s not over yet, Belinda; not by a long way.
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Bencic wins the first set 6-4!
First set: Radwanska 4-6 Bencic*(*denotes server) Serving for the opening set against a celebrated opponent to move within touching distance of a maiden tournament victory on the main tour: this is the game where we find out what Bencic is really made of, and it turns out to be sturdy stuff. Well, sturdy stuff punctuated by a couple of wobbly bits. The teenager races to 30-0 only to be pulled back by Radwanska, but at 30-30 the Pole makes a quite glaring forehand error. Set point Bencic. She stays aggressive, but overhits an off backhand. Deuce. Another error from Radwanska follows, though, and the Swiss makes no mistake this time, pounding a cross-court backhand that the Pole can barely get a racket on. That’s first blood to Bencic, along with the first set.
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First set: Radwanska* 4-5 Bencic (*denotes server) See-saw stuff. At 15-30, Radwanska gives a drop volley far too much air. Bencic is on to it in a flash, and suddenly we’re on the threshold of a third consecutive break. The Pole, showing some quite exquisite variety from the back, claws her way back into the game, staving off a couple of break points before an ace gives her a game point of her own. But an uncharacteristically loose backhand at deuce gives Bencic another break point, and this time the Swiss stays in the rally just long enough to tease out another mistake from Radwanska. Excellent play from Bencic, who will serve to a set up.
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First set: Radwanska 4-4 Bencic* (*denotes server) Oh dear. Bencic really need a quick hold to show her opponent that the break of serve was no mere stroke of fortune. She looks on the verge of securing it at 40-30, but two consecutive errors leave her facing a break point, and Radwanska is in no mood for mercy. The Pole follows up a deep, punishing return with a lovely short forehand winner, and we’re back on level terms.
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First set: Radwanska* 3-4 Bencic (*denotes server) It’s a sign of Bencic’s growing belief that she looks frustrated after sending a backhand long at 30-15 on the Radwanska serve. Facing a young, up-and-at-’em opponent is never easy for an established player, and the psychological balance of this match is increasingly absorbing. Here, it swings first one way, then the other. Bencic makes it to deuce with some fine play from the back. She saves a couple of game points with some flowing forehands, but Radwanska recovers beautifully courtesy of a delicious drop shot and a wonderful forehand winner, struck deep into her opponent’s backhand corner after what is probably the best rally of the match (at 21 shots it was certainly the longest). Bencic, though, is not to be denied, capping some superb baseline play with consecutive winners after a successful challenge at game point down. Radwanska, looking less than happy, calls down her coach for a courtside pep talk. Why the players aren’t allowed to do that at all the tournaments I’ll never know.
First set: Radwanska 3-3 Bencic* (*denotes server) Sliced forehands, remember those? You quite often see them in the men’s game when players are pulled wide, but they’re generally only seen in extremis in the modern, power-dominated game. Radwanska, though, has her own way of going about things, and at 15-15 she slices a delightful cross-court pass for a winner. It’s something you rarely witness; she could easily have opted to come over the ball. That kind of shotmaking is why many observers would like to see the Pole back in the top five. That’s surely a place we’ll be seeing Bencic sometime soon. The teenager shows admirable patience here, staying with Radwanska and twice drawing groundstroke errors from her to seal the game after it goes to deuce. Young shoulders, old head.
First set: Radwanska* 3-2 Bencic (*denotes server) An interesting feature of the match so far has been Radwanska’s relative superiority on serve. She underlines the point at 40-30 with an ace to seal the game. Still, Bencic serves notice of her variety here, winning the opening point with a lovely drop shot against the wind that the scrambling Pole, looking to find an acute angle, could only scoop wide. Already Radwanska will knows she’s in a match.
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First set: Radwanska 2-2 Bencic* (*denotes server) Radwanksa is gently ramping up the pressure, probing her opponent for weaknesses, but Bencic comes through the examination well. A short rally on the opening point ends with the Pole pulling Bencic out of position on her stronger backhand side. Bencic coughs up an unforced error, but hits back with a lovely backhand winner down the line on the next point. Radwanska then replies in kind, steering a forehand return for a winner. It’s 15-30, but Bencic recovers well to see out the game courtesy of some aggressive play from the baseline.
First set: Radwanska* 2-1 Bencic (*denotes server) Radwanska takes the game to 15, once again sewing things up with a penetrating first serve. The players are feeling one another out here, each seeing what the other has got and looking to adjust tactically.
First set: Radwanska 1-1 Bencic* (*denotes server) Two games gone and already we’ve seen some fine shotmaking from both players. They’re seeking to find the corners and pull each other out of position, and their hopes of living up to the old chestnut about tennis as physical chess should be helped by a relatively gentle breeze (by Eastbourne standards, at any rate). Good start from the teenager.
First set: Radwanska* 1-0 Bencic (*denotes server) The probable pattern of the match is quickly established, with a game of several long rallies sealed by Radwanska when a first serve produces a short reply from the Swiss. Neither of these players relies on power, so there should be plenty of baseline exchanges. Refreshing.
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And we’re off! It’s Radwanska to serve.
I was down at London’s South Bank this morning, where Mark Petchey was heading up a tennis roadshow put on by David Lloyd Leisure. Here’s what he had to say about the match: “Radwanska has obviously had her struggles this year – she looked for something different with Martina, and things obviously didn’t work out quite the way that both women wanted them to. But sometimes that backwards step can actually pole-vault you two steps forward. Obviously Radwanska loves the grass, she plays well on it, and she’s got her confidence back. Maybe experience will be enough to get her through today, but Bencic is certainly fun to watch, the way she plays.”
The players are out, along with the sun and – this being Eastbourne – the seagulls. In fact, Radwanska has already had to duck a low-flying seagull this week. Let’s hope our feathered friends don’t make any further unwanted cameos here. The warm-up is well underway and we should be getting started soon.
Radwanska and Bencic have never played each other before. Given the Swiss player’s precocity, that’s perhaps no surprise. It’s only two years ago that she lifted the junior title at Wimbledon – hard on the heels of winning the junior championship at Roland Garros – and she falls firmly into the up-and-coming category. That said, she’s not hanging around. Bencic is already ranked 31st in the world and, as mentioned, this is her second grass court final of the month after she was beaten by Italy’s Camila Giorgi, ranked one place below her, in Rosmalen. So Radwanska will be looking to bring her experience to bear here. She should be sharp after coming through her semi-final yesterday in three tight sets against the American world No43 Sloane Stephens, 6-1, 6-7 (7-3), 6-2. By way of contrast, Bencic was swiftly back in the locker room after her semi-final opponent, Caroline Wozniacki, retired with a back injury after just three games. That can only help the Swiss player.
So what should we expect? Well, wind, for one thing. And plenty of it. Devonshire Park is infamously gusty, and although both women will know what to expect at the end of a week that leaves them both within touching distance of a first title of the year – for Bencic it would be a first tournament win on the WTA Tour, no less – that won’t necessarily make it any easier.
Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the women’s final at Eastbourne. It seems like only yesterday that Agnieszka Radwanska was reaching the Wimbledon final, bearing down on the No1 ranking, and being hailed by John McEnroe as “the female Federer”. In fact, all that was three years ago. In the interim, the talented Pole has fallen to No13 in the rankings, employed Martina Navratilova as her coach only to see the 18-time grand slam champion quit after just five months, and progressed beyond the quarter-finals of a grand slam just once. The good news for Radwanska is that she’s back on grass, where she registered the best result of her career three summers ago at the All England Club. And it’s familiar grass, too: the lush lawns of Eastbourne, where she lifted the title in 2008. So far, so good. The bad news is that she’s up against the rising Swiss star Belinda Bencic, who is ranked 18 places below her on the WTA ladder, has nothing to lose, and is in fine form on grass after reaching the final of the Topshelf Open in the Netherlands the other week. Is Radwanska back to her best? The outcome here will go some way to determining that.
