Australian Open star issues public apology immediately after Katie Boulter thrashing | Tennis | Sport

Belinda Bencic continued her perfect start to the season with a statement win over Katie Boulter at the Australian Open. The No. 10 seed was recently crowned the MVP of the United Cup after helping Switzerland reach the final, winning all five of her singles matches – including wins over Iga Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini – and four of five doubles matches.

And she picked up exactly where she left off in the team tournament, barely giving Boulter room to breathe as she raced through the first set in just 26 minutes and went on to win 6-0 7-5. Bencic recently returned to the top 10 for the first time since giving birth, and travels with her daughter, Bella.

But Bella is almost two years old now, and the Swiss star has quickly learned that travelling with a toddler is no easy feat. Opening up on life as a mum on the tour, Bencic issued an apology to a very specific group of people.

“It’s definitely starting to become challenging, but I have to say, we enjoy it so much. I think the first year, last year, when we were travelling with Bella, was maybe a little bit easier, now she’s entered the toddler phase, so it’s a bit tough,” Bencic told the crowd on the Margaret Court Arena.

Interviewer Rennae Stubbs asked for an example, and the world No. 10 didn’t miss a beat as she replied. “In the plane. It’s tough in the plane. And I’m sorry for everyone who travels on the same plane as us,” she laughed.

“No, but you know, I have to say, it’s also much more fun. I think we are doing actually more things, we’re going to the zoo, we’re going to the aquarium. I think maybe I am enjoying more off the court and I am separating tennis maybe a little bit more.”

The Tokyo Olympic gold medallist welcomed her first child in April 2024 and played her first matches of any kind at ITF level in October of that year, ranked outside of the top 1000. She returned to tour-level competition at the beginning of 2025, and has now returned to the top 10.

A former world No. 4, Bencic is now hoping to keep rising. “It means a lot. I don’t think we realised yet because we are in between tournaments and you don’t want to think about it too much,” she said of her ranking.

“But I think it just really shows the hard work that it took to get back and to have such a comeback that we did, and I really hope it doesn’t end here. I hope I can keep climbing back up the rankings.”