È iniziato con un battaglia vittoriosa il percorso di Belinda Bencic al torneo di San Pietroburgo, dove è la numero uno del tabellone. La sangallese, da poco salita al quinto gradino del ranking WTA, ha infatti eliminato nel suo esordio Svetlana Kuznetsova (49) con il punteggio di 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 in 1h44'. Subito confrontata con un'avversaria certamente non agevole come la 34enne russa, ex numero due al mondo e già trionfatrice al Roland Garros (nel 2009) e agli US Open (2004), la giocatrice rossocrociata ha dimostrato di aver recuperato la buona condizione dopo la non certo eccellente prestazione personale in Fed Cup.
Dopo un doppio break e controbreak nei primi cinque game, la Bencic è andata a prendersi il primo set grazie ad un bel parziale di 5-0 nel tie-break. Nel secondo set, invece, la sangallese ha rubato all'avversaria, in modo poi decisivo, il servizio nel settimo gioco. Nei quarti la rossocrociata - che qui a San Pietroburgo ha raggiunto la finale nel 2016 - sfiderà una tra la francese Alizé Cornet (61) e la greca Maria Sakkari (21).
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