No. 5 seed Belinda Bencic overcame early issues to beat 82nd-ranked Varvara Gracheva 6-4 6-3 and progress into the quarterfinal of the WTA 500 tournament in Tokyo.
Gracheva, who won two qualifying matches and one main draw match before facing Bencic in the round-of-16, went 4-2 up in the first against the Swiss tennis star. However, the No. 5 seed still didn't allow the qualifier to take the first set after swiftly responding and taking the next four games to win the opener.
In the second set, the Swiss former world No. 4 went on another big run after claiming back-to-back breaks and winning four games in a row from 2-3 down to complete her straight-set win.
Now, everything is set for a Tokyo quarterfinal showdown between Bencic and No. 8 seed Karolina Muchova. The Swiss won their first two meetings in 2021 Cincinnati and 2022 Madrid, but Muchova ended on the winning side in their 2023 Dubai and 2025 Montreal encounters.
Bencic three wins away from also winning a WTA tournament in Tokyo
If you can recall, Bencic's greatest tennis accomplishment came at the Tokyo Olympics four years ago, when she won the gold medal. This year, the 28-year-old Swiss is playing in the Japanese capital for the first time since the Olympics.
In the past, Bencic competed five times at the Tokyo tournament between 2013 and 2018. Her best run at the tournament came in 2015, when she made the final before losing to Agnieszka Radwanska.
