“Surprised With Myself”: Madison Keys Reflects on Upsetting Belinda Bencic at WTA Doha 2021

Swiss tennis player Belinda Bencic had an incredible week in Adelaide, where she reached the finals of the WTA event but lost to reigning French Open champion Iga Swiatek. Thereafter, she flew to Doha, Qatar with the same momentum. Unfortunately, World Number 12 Bencic did not have a favorable outcome in the Middle-East against the USA’s Madison Keys.

Belinda lost to Keys  6-4, 6-1 in the opening round match of the Qatar Total Open. It was Keys’ first match since the 2020 Roland Garros, but the US Open 2017 finalist was certainly dominant throughout her battle against sixth seed Bencic.

Also, the victory over Bencic was Keys’ first match win since the US Open 2020.

“I’m really happy with how I came out and played today,” Keys mentioned in her post-match press conference. “I’m a little bit surprised with myself but hoping to keep the momentum going tomorrow… If I’m serving well, things are usually going well for me. I think it’s a really important part of my game, something that I focused on a lot. Obviously tonight it showed that when I’m serving well and hitting my spots, I can get ahead in the point.”

On Tuesday, World Number 19 Madison Keys won 83 percent of her first-service points. She powered a total of 24 winners to 17 unforced errors against Bencic. This was their first meeting in Doha since they last met in 2015.

Next in Doha: Madison Keys vs Maria Sakkari

Keys will take on Greece’s Maria Sakkari next. Previously, the duo locked horns at the Australian Open 2020, where Sakkari held a straight-set victory over the 10th-seed Keys.

Sakkari recently defeated Egyptian tennis player Mayar Sherif in the opening round of the Doha Open. 

Doubles tennis in Doha, Qatar

The doubles arena of Qatar also saw an upset when the duo of Victoria Azarenka and Elina Svitolina lost to Laura Siegemund and four-time doubles Grand Slam champion Elena Vesnina.

Vesnina was playing her first match since 2018. She had been away from the tour since November 2018 for maternity reasons. Her win on Tuesday was also her first victory as a mother.