Tokyo Olympics 2020: Belinda Bencic vs Jessica Pegula Preview; Head-to-Head and Prediction

The first-round matches of the tennis event at Tokyo Olympics is all set to start from tomorrow. Likes of Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek, Daniil Medvedev, etc., are few of the top stars scheduled for play. Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic will also begin her Olympics campaign with an intriguing matchup against Jessica Pegula.

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Bencic, who couldn’t produce the results as she would have liked this year, will try to make the most of her Tokyo Olympics campaign. On hard-courts, the Swiss star is always a tough opponent due to her baseline defensive game.

On the other hand, Jessica Pegula managed to reach her first-ever grand slam quarter-final at this year’s Australian Open. Eventually, she lost against compatriot Jennifer Brady in three sets.

With both the players eagerly waiting to make a strong comeback, this first-round encounter at Tokyo might turn out to be an interesting one to view.

Tokyo Olympics 2020: Belinda Bencic vs Jessica Pegula Head-to-Head

Coming to their head-to-head record, the duo faced only once on the WTA tour ahead of tomorrow’s match. It was in the first-round at the 2015 Topshelf Open, a grass-court event played in Netherlands.

Bencic won the contest in straight sets 6-2,7-6. It has been six years since the two players meet on the WTA tour.

Tokyo Olympics 2020: Bencic vs Pegula Prediction

Since their last encounter, both Bencic and Pegula had different paths to reach to the top of their games. Even though their performances at majors weren’t up to the mark so far, they’ve managed to excel on certain tour-level tournaments.

Bencic’s best record at slams was reaching the semi-finals at the US Open couple of years ago. In an enthralling semi-final matchup against eventual champion Bianca Andreescu, Bencic lost a tight three-setter.

Coming to Pegula, she defeated the likes of Victoria Azarenka, Kristina Mladenovic, and Elina Svitolina in her incredible quarter-final run at this year’s Australian Open. In every way, it was a confidence booster for the American.

Both Pegula and Bencic are baseliners with a formidable defense game. With matches at Tokyo Olympics being played on hard-courts, one can expect the duo to give their best as it’s a comfortable surface for both of them.

Also, success at Tokyo is much-needed for both Pegula and Bencic to kick-start their hard-court season ahead of the US Open.

All in all, this encounter might turn out to be an intense baseline competition between the two, with the Swiss player slightly having the upper hand due to the big-match experience she’s had over the years.

Prediction: Belinda Bencic to win in three sets.

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