Successful Revenge for Coco Gauff’s Opponent – Americans Won’t Believe It for a Long Time

At the Australian Open, Belinda Bencic only managed to break Coco Gauff’s impressive streak of 18 consecutive set wins. Back then, they also played in the fourth round, but it was the American who ultimately advanced to the quarterfinals. This time, the roles were reversed—at the same stage in Indian Wells. The 20-year-old Gauff won the first set 6-3, but the Swiss star took the next two sets 6-3, 6-4. This came despite Bencic requesting medical assistance twice before the match even started. After her victory, she thanked the tournament organizers for granting her a wildcard entry.

Of last year’s four Indian Wells semifinalists, only one remains in the quarterfinals—Poland’s Iga Świątek. The absence of Maria Sakkari or Marta Kostyuk is not a major surprise, but Coco Gauff’s early exit certainly is. She was the penultimate American left in the tournament, and with fourth-round action still ongoing, only Madison Keys remains. Just last Monday, the main draw featured as many as 24 American players.

Gauff approached this Indian Wells campaign with great seriousness. She had been in excellent form at the start of the year, but after the Australian Open, her level dropped significantly. Her performances in the Middle East were disastrous—she suffered early exits in both Doha and Dubai. In Indian Wells, she had already defeated Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima and Greece’s Maria Sakkari, but to say she was unimpressive would be an understatement. In her two matches, she committed 30 double faults—21 against Uchijima alone and six in the final game against Sakkari. It was a nightmare stat line.

For Gauff, however, advancing to the fourth round was a small victory, as she managed to break her losing streak. On Wednesday morning, she was in the gym before 8 a.m., preparing for her match against one of the season’s biggest surprises, which was scheduled to start three hours later.

That surprise player—or at least one of them—is Belinda Bencic. Despite being an Olympic champion from Tokyo and a former world No. 4, Bencic had been on a different journey. Less than a year ago, she gave birth to a daughter and only returned to competition in the late autumn, starting with smaller tournaments. Yet in 2024, she has already won 16 of 20 matches, placing her among the tour’s top performers in terms of victories. She has also secured a return to the WTA Top 50, a remarkable feat in such a short time.

The two players had faced each other in Melbourne, where Gauff triumphed 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, with Bencic being the first player to take a set off her this season. But now, the Swiss star is in even better form, already securing her first post-comeback title in Abu Dhabi.