Bencic, 22, plays like the seasoned veteran she is in upset of Osaka

NEW YORK—As defending US Open champion and world No. 1 Naomi Osaka entered Arthur Ashe Stadium just after noon on Monday to play her fourth-round match against 13th-seeded Belinda Bencic, the good news was that she was certain to have strong crowd support. Osaka’s gracious post-match interaction with Coco Gauff Saturday evening had been one of those rare tennis moments that generate crossover recognition—and even more, powerful appreciation.

Unfortunately for Osaka, bad news existed in a far more relevant place: inside the lines. As playing styles go, Bencic was certain to pose the kind of tricky questions that keep a first-year law student up all night; or, in Osaka’s case, anguished by day.

So it was that Bencic eliminated the title holder, 7-5, 6-4.

“I don't have the biggest power, don't have the most winners or most aces," Bencic said. "But I think I can really read the opponent's game well. I definitely try to do that against anyone, not only against her. I think just taking the ball early and anticipating her, and I think just my game probably matches up well against hers.”

Though the 22-year-old Bencic is hardly able to match Osaka’s baseline firepower (few can), it’s inaccurate to simply call her a counterpuncher or retriever. Having trained for years with Melanie Molitor, Martina Hingis’ mother and coach, Bencic learned the game in a very different way than many of her peers. The Molitor approach—elevated to blissful art form by Hingis—scarcely prescribes sheer velocity. Instead, the cornerstones are balanced movement; the ability to rob opponents of time by hitting the ball earlier with pinpoint precision; and a healthy appetite for the surprise attack.

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At its best, the Bencic game has ample pace and a smothering quality that begs the question: How might we truly define offense and defense? Perhaps, as Bencic demonstrated today, there is a playing style afoot that transcends those terms.

Bencic’s father and coach, Ivan, also believed that the rain aided his daughter’s cause.

“We were not unhappy,” he said of the need to close the Ashe Stadium roof.  She concurred. “I wished it was going to rain, so it rained,” said Bencic. “Obviously I prefer playing indoors. I don't know why. It just feels more comfortable and good for me.”

The Swiss had won their last two matches, both played this year: 7-5 in the third on clay in the quarters of Madrid and, on hard courts, 6-3, 6-1 in the third round of Indian Wells. Given that Osaka’s tennis role model was Serena Williams and Bencic’s was Hingis, consider this match a proxy version of the 1999 US Open final those two had played, that was won by Williams.

Snap, crackle, pop: three words to describe how Bencic immediately began. On the opening point, three drives landing within inches of the baseline pressed Osaka into an error. At 30-30, Bencic closed an eight-ball rally with a sharp backhand down-the-line. Osaka double-faulted on the next point.

At 2-0, Bencic held four break points. But Osaka’s big serves and groundstrokes nullified all of them.  Serving at 2-1, Bencic played her worst game of the match to hand Osaka the break back. Two games later, Bencic served at 2-3, 15-15 and double-faulted. Was this time for Osaka to assert? No. A crisp Bencic forehand at 15-30 and two big serves leveled the set at 3-all.

By this stage, the pattern had been established. The faith Osaka has in her weapons is impressive. Like Williams, Osaka’s service motion is simple and lethal. Ditto for her groundstrokes, which at their best are capable of lacerating, down-the-line winners off both sides.

But all through this match, Osaka was rarely able to seize control of rally. Repeatedly, Bencic was in the right place, first to counter, then to attack, persistently to confuse. “I felt like I was always flat-footed,” said Osaka.

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At crunch-time of the first set, Osaka served at 5-5, 30-all. Bencic absorbed a crosscourt Osaka forehand, redirecting the ball down the line deep enough to the Osaka backhand to elicit a short ball that landed well inside the service line. Bencic drilled an approach shot and then sharply knocked off a forehand volley winner (she’d go 10 for 10 at the net). On the next point, a tennis paradox: Osaka’s serve was so good that the Bencic return barely went over the net. Awkwardly, Osaka dashed forward and could only hit a meager sidespin down-the-line forehand approach. Bencic laced a backhand pass to break and in the next game, closed out the set at 30.

The temptation at this stage was to wonder if Bencic could maintain her stellar level of play. As successful as she’d been against Osaka this year in Madrid and Indian Wells, doing so at the US Open was a whole other matter. But the deeper question was how Osaka was going to extricate herself.

The fifth game gave the answer. Osaka served at 2-all—and was broken swiftly at love. Even when she came to net at love-30 and drilled a thundering crosscourt backhand volley, Bencic anticipated it and was in perfect position to issue the reply, in the form of a backhand down-the-line passing shot. Understandably demoralized, Osaka double-faulted.

From there, Bencic progressed, not so much running out the match as assembling it, toothpick by toothpick, with exemplary court positioning, relentless accuracy and the subtle ability to let Osaka become an accomplice in her own demise.

Bencic stepped up to serve out the match at 5-4—never an easy stage versus anyone, much less a player of Osaka’s caliber. On the first point, Osaka flagged a forehand return long, the kind of shot that suggests a player has run out of answers; or, if you will, the ability to pose questions. As we have seen throughout Osaka’s career, at this stage there is nary an alternate tactic in her arsenal other than the ability to dig in and keep seeking to strike big. But with the delicacy of spider weaving a web, Bencic had flummoxed Osaka. She held handily at love to close it out.

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Asked afterwards what Bencic had done to so take her out of her comfort zone, Osaka took a long pause and then said, “I guess just being aggressive. I know that's a really, like, blunt, short answer, but that's honestly all I can think of.”

If power is Osaka’s biggest asset inside the lines, candor is her off-court strength.

“It's something I have learned over the summer that even if you aren't playing your best, you're going to play people who are going to play their best,” she said. “You have to figure out how to win those matches. And it's matches like that that are the most important, because it really tests your character. So I think on that side I have a lot of growing up to do.”

But at least this US Open run to the round of 16 was better than Osaka’s third-round loss at Roland Garros and first-round exit from Wimbledon.

“I feel like I'm more chill now," said Osaka. "Because it sort of relates back to his question, like, I feel like I grew. I don't feel like I put so much weight on one single match.”

This marks Bencic’s second trip to the quarterfinals of the US Open The first had come five years ago—a very long and trying half-decade. Back in 2014, Bencic was the teen prodigy, just a year removed from beating Taylor Townsend in the Wimbledon girls’ final, soaring up the ranks. But in the years since, Bencic had plummeted, repeatedly hindered by injuries.

As recently as the fall of 2018, she was shuttling between WTA events and smaller tournaments in such places as Las Vegas and Tyler, Texas.

“I learned so many things,” said Bencic. “I think it was—everyone expected to go just up. That's not how tennis goes. I think all tru athletes have to overcome obstacles, injuries, just tough times. I think it made me a stronger person, better player.”

To be sure, Bencic has proven quite resilient. But even more, as today vividly demonstrated, Bencic is something even more rare: a player’s player.

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