Olympic champion Belinda Bencic declares ‘miracle’

Reigning Olympic champion Belinda Bencic will join the WTA Tour’s growing motherhood club after confirming she is pregnant with her first child.

The former world No. 4, who has not played tennis since losing in the first round of the San Diego Open on September 12, joined boyfriend and father-to-be Martin Hromkovic in her The news was announced on Instagram account.

Bencic and former footballer Hromkovic began dating in November 2018, with the Slovak also serving as her fitness coach.

“Looking forward to our little miracle coming soon! ✨ We can’t wait to meet you,” the pair wrote on social media.

Bencic, 26, did not reveal the baby’s due date or whether she plans to follow in the footsteps of mothers such as Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Elina Svitolina – only To name a few – they both returned to competitive tennis after becoming pregnant. Becoming a first time mother.

Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber also plan to return to competition next year after giving birth to children in 2023.

Svitolina was one of the first to congratulate the Swiss star, with the Ukrainian merely expressing her happiness with emojis, along with one of Bencic’s best friends on the WTA Tour, Donna ·Vicchi wrote “” together, who added “❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ “.

Ons Jabeur wrote “Congratulations to you both❤️❤️❤️” while Paula Badosa wrote “Congratulations❤️”

Bencic has endured a frustrating season this year, with form and injuries nagging her, causing her to slip out of the top 10 in the WTA rankings. The Swiss is currently ranked 14th.

Despite injuries, Bencic won two titles in 2023, lifting the Adelaide International Trophy in January and the Abu Dhabi Open in February.

It remains to be seen whether she can defend her Olympic title at Paris 2024, which is scheduled to begin on July 24.

Bencic defeated Marka Vondrousova in three sets to win singles gold at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, while she also teamed with Viktoria Golubic to win women’s doubles silver.

Bencic has won eight WTA Tour singles trophies, including WTA 1000 titles at the 2015 Canadian Open and the 2019 Dubai Tennis Championships, while she was runner-up in 10 matches. She also has two dual titles to her name.

However, she is yet to break through at the Grand Slams, with her best performance coming in 2019 when she reached her only semi-final at the US Open, losing in straight sets to the eventual champion Bianca Andreescu.