In a rematch of last year’s Credit One Charleston Open final, second seed Ons Jabeur dethroned sixth seed Belinda Bencic with a 7-6(6) 6-4 victory after one hour and 59 minutes of intense match play.
First of all, we have to mention that Bencic came to the title match soon after finishing her rain-delayed semifinal against Jessica Pegula. The Saturday’s encounter was suspended in the second-set tiebreak and when it resumed on Sunday, Bencic won five of the next six points to seal a 7-5 7-6(5) victory.
Bidding to become the first player to defend the Charleston title since Serena Williams in 2012-2013, Bencic broke Jabeur’s serve right at the start of the match and firmly held on to that lead for the better part of the first set, getting in the position to serve for the set at 5-4. With a spectacular combination of shots — a tweener and a crosscourt backhand winner — Jabeur broke back to level at 5-5.
It looked like the Tunisian would win three consecutive games on the wings of her newly-found confidence, but Bencic saved as many as five set points on her serve and forced a tiebreak. Eventually, Jabeur edged the tiebreak by converting her sixth set point with a forehand winner on the line.
In the second set, Bencic was close to getting her third break back and leveling…
