Coco Gauff's hopes of landing her maiden Indian Wells title have come to an end in the round-of-16 after the American stunningly collapsed late and Belinda Bencic completed a 3-6 6-3 6-4 comeback win in two hours and 20 minutes of play.
The third-seeded home favorite blew an early first-set break but took the Swiss' serve again in the sixth game before serving out for the opener three games later.
Down by a set, Bencic quickly responded, opening a 3-0 second-set lead and then routinely holding to her serve for the rest of the set to force a decider.
Through the first eight games of the third set, both players firmly held on to their serve, without any break points seen. After Gauff opened a 40/0 lead in the ninth game, everything pointed toward it being another routine service game in the decider. But then, the No. 3 seed got tight and broken from 40/0 up.
With a chance to serve out for the match, Bencic made sure not to miss out on that opportunity.
For a place in the Indian Wells semifinal, the world No. 58 will play against either Madison Keys or Donna Vekic.
Bencic gets her revenge over Gauff and reaches her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal as a mom
In January, the 27-year-old Swiss saw her promising Australian Open run end in the round-of-16 with a three-set loss to Gauff. Today, they found themselves in another close battle but this time the former world No. 4 ended on the winning side.
Meanwhile, Bencic has also made her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal since launching her post-pregnancy comeback.
I always tell myself it doesnt matter if I win this match, I already won in life. I have a beautiful family.. Im very blessed," she said.
Bencic won her first title as a mom in Abu Dhabi last month and now she is looking to add her second.
