The best Belinda Bencic, back after her pregnancy: "I am close to reaching my highest level"

Belinda Bencic is here and her presence at Indian Wells 2025 is confirming it. The Swiss tennis player advances to the quarterfinals of the Californian tournament after defeating one of the favorites like Coco Gauff (3-6, 6-3, 6-4). After a year without playing due to her pregnancy, she reached as high as 913th in the rankings in November 2024 and step by step has been reclaiming her place. Thanks to a wildcard, she was able to participate in the Californian tournament and has made good use of it as she is one step away from the semifinals, although her next challenge will be against Madison Keys.

Rematch against Gauff after the match in Australia

"Obviously, from a tennis standpoint, I think it was a great match in Australia. I felt she had the edge over me in a way. It was a very hot day, and towards the end, I felt like I didn't have the strength in Australia. Obviously, she was playing very well. What changed was that I also kept working on the physical aspect. I think in the last few tournaments, I've been able to play consecutive matches, some three-setters, and each time I feel fresher, you know, after the match, I'm not as tired, or my body holds up much better, almost like before. So, I'm very happy. I guess that's what we were working on."

Mindset change after becoming a mother

"I think it has obviously changed after coming back. I always put a lot of pressure on myself and try to do everything perfectly. I think it's just about priorities, what tennis means to me has changed. It obviously means a lot, but it's not my entire world anymore. So, I don't think about it when I'm in the match. I think it's something that has naturally happened, and I didn't expect it to happen, but that's how I feel."

A new version of Bencic?

"I don't think there's a Bencic 2.0. So, I don't think I'm better or not. It's just part of my life. I don't think everything has changed now just because I have a baby. Firstly, I didn't have a baby to improve my career. I had a baby because we felt that was the purpose of our life. That's what we wanted. It came at the right time in our lives. It had nothing to do with my decision to play tennis or not, or whether I'm going to be better than before or not. I don't think there's a Bencic 1, Bencic 2, Bencic 3. If you count how many times I've come back, there should be a Bencic 7. I just feel the same, and I don't want to compare all the time if I'm better or not."

About the difficulty of returning after the significant physical change of pregnancy

"The hardest by far, the physical part, I mean, obviously the first times you try to practice, you're like 'oh my God'. Yeah, it's crazy, of course, after having a very athletic body and then just a huge belly. So, I really started from scratch. The first months were tough. Obviously, it wasn't easy. Yes, it was painful, you know, when you're trying to work your cardio and everything else. So, the workouts are not fun. But you feel you're getting better every day, which keeps you going and keeps you motivated."

Feels like she's back

"I'm close to reaching my best level. I feel like I've returned to where I was before, so the work doesn't end here. I continue to try to improve various aspects of my game and also my movements and everything. I don't think there's any player who says, 'Oh, you know, I'm good, I'm not going to try to improve,'" says a Bencic who, not even a pregnancy, has prevented her from returning to the tennis elite.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, La mejor Bencic, de vuelta tras su embarazo: "Estoy cerca de alcanzar mi mayor nivel"