Eighteen-year-old Belinda Bencic has dished out only the second defeat of 2015 for Serena Williams, as she upset the world No. 1 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday night to advance to her first Rogers Cup presented by National Bank final.
It looked as though Williams was headed for a straight-sets win over Bencic, but Williams double-faulted on set point, allowing Bencic to take the set 7-5 and force a third. It was a topsy-turvy third set as Bencic went up 4-0 before Williams got on the board. The 21-time Slam champion looked like she might engineer a comeback but she fell short. By upsetting the No. 1 seed, Bencic became the youngest player to defeat Williams since Maria Sharapova at the 2004 WTA Finals.
Bencic has been on a hot streak at Rogers Cup. She eliminated world No. 25 Eugenie Bouchard in her opener, former world No. 1 and No. 4 seed Caroline Wozniacki in the second round, Sabine Lisicki in the third and another former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic in the quarters before upsetting Williams in the semis. Williams was the two-time defending champion in Toronto and had not lost a match here since 2009.
Bencic secured the win on her first match point to seal her spot in the championship match. The Swiss teen will hope to continue her run all the way to the title when she meets world No. 3 Simona Halep in the final at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
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