Russian tennis player Ekaterina Alexandrova was on the verge of the largest victory in her career. But our athlete was not destined to win, despite the heroic struggle on the court.

“I am very glad that I can play”

At the beginning of 2025, Alexandrova was in the fourth ten WTA rating. The Russian tennis player was there because of the unsuccessfully spent last season. But the change of coach helped the athlete return the lost positions. In collaboration with Igor Andreev, Ekaterina already repeated a personal record at Wimbledon, reaching the fourth circle.

The rival of Alexandrova at this stage was Belinda Benchich, now occupying 35th place in the world ranking. Swiss also gradually returns to a high level. She lost many positions after a pause in her career, which she took because of the birth of a child. Now a young mother is gaining condition and can create problems with any opponent. Yes, and the mood of the Olympic champion in London is very combat.

-Sometimes I feel more relaxed when I look at everything differently, speaking at tournaments. I am very glad that I can play and experience these wonderful moments with my daughter, ”Benchich quoted the official website of Wimbledon.

For Alexandrova, this meeting was of great importance. By the age of 30, she never once in her career went to the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam series, but the chances of interrupting this unpleasant trend were very high. A powerful victory in an in-line match at a herbal tournament in Bad Homourg, which took place on June 23, added confidence. Then the Swiss was able to take only three games in two parties. Catherine won with a score of 6: 1, 6: 2.

Belinda Benchich / Photo: © Christopher Pike / Stringer / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Mom turned out to be stronger than nerves

The beginning turned out to be discouraging for the Russian woman. In the first game, on her presentation, she made four errors in a row, allowing the opponent to make a break from the account of 30: 0. Catherine soaked the score in the third game, but I had to spend a lot of effort to drive a Swiss that perfectly moving around the court.

After that, the Russian woman was again in the shadow of Belinda. This is not to say that Alexandrova played poorly, just a rival showed a more intelligent and stable tennis. This led to another lost presentation. With two Breiki, Benchich Ekaterina had little chance of winning the party, but she managed to heroically equalize the score in the tenth game – 5: 5. It came to a tie-break, where the Swiss nevertheless celebrated the victory-7: 4.

The first half of the second set turned out to be extremely stubborn. None of the girls wanted to give in to their presentation, despite the presence of a brak-punts. It was especially difficult to serve Alexandrova. In the eighth game, Belinda gave the Russian woman, making the first break. Ekaterina strongly brought non -abstracted errors. With a score of 3: 5, our tennis player played five matchballs and took the rival. But all heroic salvations were in vain, because Belinda in the next game set up a victorious point – 6: 4.

Now Benchich in the quarterfinals will have to play with the winner of the match between Mirro Andreeva and Emma Navarro. Catherine is forced to postpone the dream of the quarterfinals of a large helmet tournament at least until the opening of the US Championship.