“I Was Never One That Wanted To Be In The Spotlight” – Belinda Bencic

While injuries can be a distressing part of career for any tennis star, they have been particularly taxing for Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic. Struggling with her foot issues, the Swiss has missed out on the chunk of three tennis seasons.

However, she has learnt the art of rebuilding herself as better than before. Perhaps that’s the reason why she is still the world no 8 despite all the setbacks. After all, you need to be something special for Roger Federer to personally endorse you.

Interestingly, Belinda recently talked to BehindTheRacquet about how injuries have a positive effect. This has particularly helped her to look at things in a new way while also helped her to rejuvenate.

Know More – “Roger Federer Can’t Win Anything For Me”- Belinda Bencic

What did Belinda Bencic say? 

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“It was a huge struggle to deal with the pressure of becoming top 10 in the world early on. I truly believe that once I made it there my body was forcing me to take some time off, that something wasn’t right, and that’s why I got injured. I think it all happened for a reason. I learned so much about myself and this sport while working my way back. I appreciate tennis more. I fully believe that if I didn’t get injured I would be completely exhausted in a few years. It would have only been a matter of time until I felt burnt out so I am happy it happened now. I was lucky to gain this experience while I was still extremely young and ready to fight back. I broke into the top 10 for the first time at St. Petersburg in 2016. Then soon came Miami where I got my first injury, which led to many others. A severe wrist problem came and I tried to avoid surgery while playing for nine months. April 2017, I finally decided to get it done. I was out for about six months and my ranking dropped to 350. Tennis is super difficult because you never stay where you are, you are either going up or down. As a junior, you just play, everything is exciting and new. You have nothing to lose, you don’t overthink anything. While I moved to the top of the sport I just felt too young for all of it. The media attention is something you cannot prepare for, especially if you aren’t naturally open like I am. I never had to deal with something not going my way in my career, and now any failure was directly in the spotlight. I didn’t enjoy simply playing tennis anymore. I was never one that wanted to be in the spotlight off the court. It was a relief after I got my surgery that I could start new again. I started again, not playing in front of anyone, no one judging me and I found to love it all again. I could have taken wild cards or a protected ranking but I wanted to build my confidence and love again. I began to remember what it was like to appreciate every win and every minute on court. To take a second and remember you worked so hard to get to compete against players I used to watch on TV when I was younger.” @belindabencic Go to behindtheracquet.com for extended stories, podcasts and merch.

A post shared by Behind The Racquet (@behindtheracquet) on Mar 29, 2020 at 10:00am PDT

Belinda Bencic had a very powerful message that will teach you to look positively at things –

“It was a huge struggle to deal with the pressure of becoming top 10 in the world early on. I truly believe that once I made it there my body was forcing me to take some time off, that something wasn’t right, and that’s why I got injured. I think it all happened for a reason.”

For Bencic, life has a way to tell you that you need to slow down. Her injuries are nothing but a reflection of that.

“I learned so much about myself and this sport while working my way back. I appreciate tennis more.”

The Swiss star believes that her injuries are actually helping her to elongate her career. Without them, she would be exhausted by the daily grind.

“I fully believe that if I didn’t get injured I would be completely exhausted in a few years. It would have only been a matter of time until I felt burnt out so I am happy it happened now. I was lucky to gain this experience while I was still extremely young and ready to fight back.”

Bencic is surprisingly allergic to media attention. She is someone who believes in doing her work without anyone watching and in silence.

“Tennis is super difficult because you never stay where you are, you are either going up or down. As a junior, you just play, everything is exciting and new. You have nothing to lose, you don’t overthink anything. While I moved to the top of the sport I just felt too young for all of it. The media attention is something you cannot prepare for, especially if you aren’t naturally open like I am. I never had to deal with something not going my way in my career, and now any failure was directly in the spotlight.”

Know More – Who Is Belinda Bencic’s Boyfriend Martin Hromkovic?

In fact, she believes that her injury helped her to connect with herself again.

I didn’t enjoy simply playing tennis anymore. I was never one that wanted to be in the spotlight off the court. It was a relief after I got my surgery that I could start new again. I started again, not playing in front of anyone, no one judging me and I found to love it all again. I could have taken wild cards or a protected ranking but I wanted to build my confidence and love again.”

Starting all over again helped Bencic to be the person that she once was. Someone who didn’t care about what others thought of her.

“I began to remember what it was like to appreciate every win and every minute on court. To take a second and remember you worked so hard to get to compete against players I used to watch on TV when I was younger.”

Belinda Bencic makes a strong statement about the current state of affairs in tennis. This is a profound challenge facing all youngsters in sport. Early success brings extreme media attention and you are pushed to the stratosphere. However, most are not able to handle the hype and crumble under pressure, something which is a case with most young prodigies. Do you think the media attention received by young sportspersons is a positive thing?

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