Belinda Bencic made an interesting revelation to Caroline Garcia during her appearance on the Frenchwoman's podcast as the 27-year-old shared that struggling with injuries very early in her career actually helped her.
Eight years ago, then-the rising Swiss star missed the entire clay season due to a small scar of the periosteum at the coccyx.
Then, she was hit with a wrist injury, which required surgery and sidelined her for the next half a year.
Things didn't get any better for Bencic in 2018, who dealt with a foot injury.
During those injury periods, there were times when the Swiss would be ranked outside the top-100 - at one point she even fell outside the top-300.
And when Bencic finally returned to being fully healthy, she was just happy to be constantly playing.
Before that, she used to feel completely different emotions on the court, like anxiety and felt pressure to do well.
Bencic: I was anxious on the court - but after the injuries - I was just happy to be able to play
I had these injuries where I had one injury led to another injury, and I was out for quite a bit," the 27-year-old explained on the Tennis Insider Club podcast.
"And I feel like that almost helped me a little bit to understand why I play tennis, that I like to play tennis before I'd almost felt like I had to be there.
I was anxious on the court, trying not to lose. And then when I had these injuries, I was just really happy to be back.
"It gave me a whole new perspective. And I almost feel like my body, it was a way to protect myself, you know.
"My body kind of reacted to my mind a little bit and maybe protect myself with getting injured.
After giving birth last April, Bencic returned to tennis in late 2024.
Since then, she has played extremely well and she even won the WTA 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi this month.
So far, everything points toward the former world No. 4 having a big post-pregnancy comeback.
