SYDNEY — Former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic made her return to the elite circuit after her maternity break to lead Switzerland to a 2-1 win over France in the United Cup mixed team tournament Saturday.
The 27-year-old beat Chloe Paquet 6-3, 6-1 in her first WTA Tour-level match since giving birth to daughter Bella in April. She later combined with Dominic Stricker to defeat Elixane Lechemia and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-1, 7-6 (4).
Bencic, who will compete in the Australian Open with a protected ranking, said she was playing at a higher level than she expected.
“The whole comeback went much faster than I anticipated and expected. It’s great,” said Bencic, who first returned to action in October and played in the Billie Jean King Cup, apart from lower-level tournaments. “I didn’t rush things. I was super careful with starting again. I didn’t really want to put time pressure on my comeback. I just wanted to see how it goes every day.
“I think I was ready. There’s no point in practicing more. It’s boring, right? It’s better to play competitive matches.”
Ugo Humbert had pulled France level at 1-1 with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Stricker in the Group D contest, battling back from 2-5 down in the second set to prevail and force a mixed doubles rubber at the Ken Rosewall Arena.
In the evening session, Argentina beat Australia 2-1 in Group F as Nadia Podoroska beat Olivia Gadecki 6-2, 6-4 before Maria Lourdes Carle and Tomas Martin Etcheverry downed Ellen Perez and Matt Ebden 6-2, 6-4.
Alex De Minaur had powered past Etcheverry 6-1, 6-4 to make it 1-1 in front of a raucous home crowd.
Canada was also victorious in Group A of the $10 million tournament that features 18 countries, as it defeated Croatia 2-1 in Perth’s RAC Arena.
Former US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez overcame Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-3 before Felix Auger-Aliassime crashed to a 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss against Borna Coric. Fernandez and Auger-Aliassime then saw off Lucija Ciric Bagaric and Ivan Dodig 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the tie.
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro got Spain off to a solid start with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Maria Sakkari before Stefanos Tsitsipas got past Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to put Greece on the board in a Group C clash.
Sakkari and Tsitsipas defeated Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers and Sergio Martos Gornes 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 to wrap up the tie.
