World No.28 Anett Kontaveit demolished the No.6 seed Belinda Bencic in straight sets 6-0, 6-1 in the third round of the Australian Open 2020 on Saturday. With this victory, Kontaveit draws level to her best performance in Melbourne, reaching the fourth round for the second time in her career.
As the scoreline suggests, the Estonian was all over the 22-year-old Swiss, hitting 21 winners and winning 86 percent of first-serve points. On the other hand, an error-strewn Bencic committed 4 double faults and 18 unforced to Kontaviet’s 7 unforced errors.
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Kontaveit bageled Belinda Bencic in the first set
Kontaveit stormed through the opening set, taking the first five games to edge ahead with a double break. There was no stopping to the Estonian as she rushed to win the opening set 6-0 after breaking Bencic for the third time in just over 20 minutes of play.
Bencic struggled to find her range on serve and groundstrokes in the opening set with only 48 percent of the first serve in and second serve winning percentage of 27. The Swiss star committed 10 unforced errors in a set, where she managed to win only 10 points.
Is another top seed about to tumble? |#AusOpen
No. 6 🇨🇭 Belinda Bencic loses the first set 6-0(!) to No. 28 🇪🇪 Anett Kontaveit pic.twitter.com/o4Zh1bISt5
— Live Tennis (@livetennis) January 25, 2020
Kontaveit broke twice to seal the match
The 24-year-old continued to dominate Belinda Bencic in the second set as within a flash, she was up 3-0 with a break of serve. The Swiss finally got on board with her first service hold at 3-1.
.@BelindaBencic is on the board!
The sixth seed trails Kontaveit 0-6 1-3. It's a long road back, but she's still in reach of a spot in the round of 16 for the first time since 2016.#AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/xEveYkR4K2
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 25, 2020
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Anett Kontaveit went onto break Bencic twice to win the next three games and close the set 6-1, embarrassing the World No.7 with a defeat in just 49 minutes.
The No. 6 seed is ousted.@AnettKontaveit defeats Bencic 6-0, 6-1 in the third round #AusOpen . pic.twitter.com/9qD1w6Jktn
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) January 25, 2020
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The Estonian No.1 is aiming for her first Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance at the Melbourne Park. She will face the winner between No.19 seed Donna Vekic and Iga Swiatek in the fourth round of the Australian Open 2020.