There are several tennis pros who can make up for Switzerland’s Grand Slam misery. However, the focus is on the returnees Belinda Bencic and Dominic Stricker. They are on the hunt to catch up.

Flashback two years. In an interview with Keystone-SDA in Melbourne, Belinda Bencic talks about how she really wants to win another Grand Slam tournament in her career. And she also mentions for the first time that she can imagine becoming a mother very soon.

A baby break was not really taken seriously at the time. Bencic had just changed coach (and hired Dimitri Tursunov), won tournament after tournament, finished second in the 2023 annual rankings after four months and suddenly saw her big goal, the major title, within reach. In Melbourne, she served for the set against the eventual winner Aryna Sabalenka in the second week of the tournament at 5:4 in the first round.

Dominic Stricker was also on the upswing two years ago. His three matches in the qualifying tournament were played in front of a full house. Stricker had previously reached the semi-finals at the Next Gen Masters in Milan. No younger player was ranked higher than Stricker in the world rankings.

“Started to question myself”

The two years since then have been short ups and long downs for Stricker. In the fall of 2023, the man from Grosshöchstetten reached 88th in the world rankings – but at the same time experienced back problems for the first time at the Swiss Indoors. The injury, which he carried with him until the next Next Gen Masters, where he reached the semi-finals again, ultimately cost him more than half a year. The break took its toll on Stricker. He fell further and further down the rankings – and yes, he admits: “I began to question myself.

The skepticism has not yet disappeared – not even seven months after his comeback. The first three singles matches of the new season were all lost. And at the last tournament of last season, Stricker played a small ITF tournament in Heraklion – and lost 6:7, 1:6 to Louis Dussin, the world number 741. Stricker did manage three fine victories in Stockholm and Basel in October, but since then he has also failed three times early on at Challenger level.

Stricker’s starting position ahead of the Australian Open is the same as it was two years ago: Make progress, gain confidence, win matches, climb up the rankings again. And he must remain patient. Stricker’s coach, the German Dieter Kindlmann, admitted to the ATP that “we all expected Dominic to be back to his old self sooner”.

Almost back to his old self

It was much quicker for Bencic. Before the Australian Open, the returnee defeated Anna Kalinskaya, the world number 14, in Adelaide with similar ease (6:2, 1:0 loss) as two years ago at the same venue (then 6:3, 6:3). And Bencic always lost narrowly to Ludmilla Samsonova even before the baby break.

In a major interview with the WTA players’ union, Bencic said that her goals have not changed. “I still want to win a Grand Slam tournament more than anything else. I don’t know where and when. But I believe it’s possible.”

Bencic did not come back to play in the midfield. She wants to at least get back to where she was before. And she won singles gold at the Olympic Games and climbed up to No. 4 in the world rankings.

Role model Clijsters

Bencic has studied the subject. She knows that the Belgian Kim Clijsters won three of her four Grand Slam titles as a mother. And that Wilma Rudolph, the legendary American sprinter, set world records as a mother.

Does she still have her best years ahead of her? “Yes, one hundred percent. I believe in it. It should definitely be possible to play as well as I did in 2023. I’m still young, only 27.” And after all, three current top 10 players – Jasmine Paolini, Jessica Pegula and Barbora Krejcikova – are older than Bencic.

The Bencic entourage in Melbourne comprises four people. In addition to husband (and fitness trainer) Martin Hromkovic and baby Bella, Bencic’s mother Dana also traveled to Melbourne.

Bencic is certainly not expected to perform miracles in the next two weeks. But the chances are good that Switzerland will be able to play a role again at the 2025 major tournaments. Last season, Switzerland was no longer represented in Melbourne, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open in the second week of the tournament. And most recently at the US Open, no Swiss Tennis representative made it into the 2nd round.

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