Duel of the young mothers against Naomi Osaka

On Wednesday, however, Belinda Bencic was "mega happy that I won". She made a great start to the match against Suzan Lamens, the tournament winner in Osaka in the fall, even though she was only "quite satisfied" with the first one and a half sets. Bencic led 6:1, 3:0 after 40 minutes. However, it took more than an hour before she converted her third match point.

The match turned. Suddenly, even the Dutchwoman seemed to have an advantage. Lamens caught up, fended off two match points, saved herself in the tie-break and took the lead with a mini-break (1:0). Bencic also fell during this phase and appeared to be in pain. Bencic: "I had the feeling that she was taking more risks. At the same time, I acted more passively. The fall? Everything was fine. I only felt something in the first moment."

The example of Osaka

The days following the astonishing 6:3, 7:6 win against Jelena Ostapenko provide further insight. The way she broke down in the second set against Lamens makes it clear that no one can assume that Bencic will be as good as she was in 2023 before her baby break. And the example of Naomi Osaka, her next opponent, shows that things don't always go as quickly as desired.

Naomi Osaka - like Bencic, 27 years old, but a higher caliber than the Swiss before her maternity leave: 2021 World Athlete of the Year, four Grand Slam titles, world number 1! Of course, Osaka was already struggling with mental health issues before the baby break. However, her absence from the tour was practically the same length as Bencic's. Osaka took a break from September 2022 to January 2024; her daughter was born at the beginning of July 2023. Bencic gave birth to daughter Bella in early April 2024 and took a break from October 2023 (San Diego) to December 2024.

Number 70 after one year

How did Osaka fare as a mother in professional year 1? She also immediately celebrated victories again. She made it to the quarter-finals in 's-Hertogenbosch and at her home tournament in Osaka. At the French Open, she missed a set point in the first set against Iga Swiatek, the world number 1, and a match point in the third set. But after a year back on the tour, she was only ranked 70th.

She worked her way up to 51st position last week by qualifying for the final in Auckland. In Melbourne, Osaka has so far defeated Caroline Garcia of France, against whom she had clearly lost at the Australian Open a year ago, and in the second round the Czech number 20 seed Karolina Muchova (1:6, 6:1, 6:3).

Bencic leads 3:2

The third round match against Osaka will provide Bencic with further information. She is also looking forward to the match, "hopefully on one of the biggest courts". Bencic has a 3-2 lead in the head-to-head meetings against the Japanese player, even though Osaka won their last encounter three years ago in Miami. Osaka celebrated her last major tournament victory at this WTA 1000 event.

"But none of that may mean anything anymore," says Bencic. "We're both in a new phase of our lives." And Osaka also has other worries. She lives in Los Angeles and her home was acutely threatened by fire last week.