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Belinda Bencic commented on the impressive consistency shown by Jessica Pegula in recent times, ahead of their semifinal encounter at the 2023 Charleston Open.
Bencic defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova in straight sets to continue her title defense in Charleston. The former World No. 4 is vying for her third title of the season, which would rank her as the tour leader for most titles in 2023 so far.
Following her win, Belinda Bencic joined Steve Weissman on the Tennis Channel, where she talked about her upcoming semifinal against the winner of the match between Jessica Pegula and Paula Badosa.
"It's a high quality match. It's definitely going to be fun to watch tonight," Bencic said. "Hopefully I can bring out my best and show the best for the fans here."
Bencic was very complimentary of the impressive consistency displayed by Pegula, who is coming off a semifinal run at the Miami Open where she fell to Elena Rybakina.
"Jess is as solid as ever. I feel like she is in the quarterfinal in every single tournament, it's not even funny anymore," Bencic said.
The 26-year-old showered praise on Paula Badosa as well, describing her as a "high quality opponent."
"Paula is always a high quality opponent. I played her here last year so I think it's going to be a very good match," she added.
Belinda Bencic will take on Jessica Pegula in the semifinals at Charleston following the American's straight-sets victory over Paula Badosa.
"She's a really tough matchup for me" - Jessica Pegula on Charleston Open SF opponent Belinda Bencic
Top seed Jessica Pegula put in a strong performance against Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals of the Credit One Charleston Open, winning 6-3, 7-6(6). Following the match, Pegula commented on the fight shown by Badosa to force a second set tiebreak.
"She made me earn it in the end," Pegula said in her post-match interview. "The conditions started getting really tricky. I know there's some rain coming, so I'm glad I was able to get through that, especially in straight sets."
The World No. 3 then acknowledged Belinda Bencic as a tough opponent and a challenging matchup for her, having lost each of their three previous encounters. However, the American staked her belief in her improvement as a player since their most recent match at the 2021 US Open.
"Belinda is really tough. She's a really tough matchup for me. I haven't played her in a while. I think I've improved a lot since the last time I played her. But we play kind of similar, hit kind of low flat, take it early. And she tends to kind of feed off my pace and like how I play," she said.
