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Mandy Minella couldn’t keep up with the rhythm of her opponent at the US Open on Tuesday. The level of power that Belinda Bencic brought to the court to begin the opening round was too much for the tennis veteran to keep up in a 6-3, 6-2 loss on Court 5 at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center.
The two met for the third time overall and the second time this season with the Swiss prepared to add to her 2-0 lead over Minella in their head-to-head record. Since Dubai, she had been very serious about every single tournament she had taken part in and has gone deep into all of them with success along the way. The World No. 12's intention was to continue playing with the same confidence.
She, however, had trouble finding her rhythm against Minella that resulted in an early break for the 33-year-old. She turned things around with a hold in the third game and broke back in the fourth to get back on track. A third win in a row put the Swiss star back in front but her winning streak was cut in the sixth as Minella leveled the score at three apiece.
Bencic scored a terrific serve to love, notching up an ace to end the seventh game with a show of strength. The 33-year-old showed no signs of struggle as she kept the pace high but was answered in the eighth game as a break went to the 13th seed. With a shot at serving for the set, the 22-year-old easily reached three set points with a winning forehand to put Minella down after 34 minutes.
Minella opened the second set with a hold but watched Bencic take over with her offense, overshadowing that of the Luxembourger. The 22-year-old opened the throttle to hold and consolidate it with a break in the third. With an ace coming in the fourth, Bencic ran Minella off in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead, setting a comfortable pace for the Swiss star.
She comfortably achieved the double break with some fabulous net-play that Minella had no way to react quickly to. The latter found herself down 1-5 with one last chance to extend the set or see it end at the hands of the 13th seed. She let Bencic get one point on her serve as she made the Swiss star serve it out herself. Scoring a fifth ace to secure three match points, Bencic put Minella out with a 23rd winner to end the match in one hour and eight minutes.
With very little problems to deal with, the Swiss powerhouse had enough left in her tank to roll into her second-round match where she would wait for French veteran Alize Cornet.
