Belinda Bencic fails in the 2nd round at the US Open

Bencic never found a means against Li, who played with pressure but was mostly inconsistent, and lost for the first time since reaching the 2nd round in New York. The one-sided match was over after just 74 minutes.

In the end, the 25-year-old American had 23 direct winning points and only 15 unforced errors, while the Swiss, who is three years older, had a clearly negative ratio of 10:20. She never managed to get Li out of her comfort zone and Bencic made too many mistakes when she tried to force her to run more.

The defeat joins a series of disappointing results in the North American hard court season. After her brilliant semi-final qualification at Wimbledon, Bencic only won a total of two matches in Montreal, Cincinnati and at the US Open. As a result, the chance to qualify for the WTA Finals in her very successful season after the birth of her daughter Bella has once again taken a back seat for the 2019 Masters semi-finalist.

Against Li, who had already driven Viktorija Golubic (with whom she plays doubles in New York) to despair at Wimbledon, Bencic was only briefly in the lead at 1:0 in the second set. She was able to respond to a break to 24 in the first set, but not to the 3:5. In the second set, she had to surrender her serve at 1:2 and 3:6. The last game was symptomatic of a black evening on the outdoor court 12: The 2021 Olympic champion conceded four unforced errors to concede zero.

The tableau would have offered Bencic a good chance of at least making it into the second week. Li, who has reached the third round for only the third time at her fifteenth attempt, is the clear favorite against Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon (WTA 126).