26-year-old Belinda Bencic was the first Swiss woman to win an Olympic gold medal in tennis in Tokyo in 2020 — exclusive advertising contracts and prize money worth millions followed. The only thing that has so far eluded her is victory on the most famous pitch in the world.
In her comfortable sweater look, Belinda Bencic doesn’t seem as if her Olympic victory in Tokyo had made much of an impression on the tennis player in the Zoom interview. She seems relaxed, laughs a lot and chooses her words carefully – a professional not only on the pitch, but also when dealing with the media. Successful tennis players are big earners.
The Forbes list of top earners in sports is led by female tennis players: at the top is the Japanese Naomi Osaka with an estimated fortune of $50 million, followed by Serena Williams with $41 million. Bencic’s prize money is now expected to amount to eleven million US dollars; If she wins a Grand Slam tournament this year, she will receive up to an additional $2 million. “You shouldn’t think that all tennis players are millionaires.
After all, we have to cover all costs ourselves during our competitions,” said Bencic. But one thing is certain: the days when Bencic could only afford cheap hotels and fast food are a thing of the past. Bencic is now a public figure with numerous fans. She has become a brand and knows how to present herself: On Instagram she posts travel pictures from the Maldives, from a wellness vacation in the Alps or casually in a Mercedes.
Despite her relaxed attitude, she says: The hardest battle continues after the competition — the battle with one’s own self-doubt and expectations; the expectations of their parents, their fans or even those of themselves to be the best always and everywhere. “It would be nice not to wake up in the morning and almost throw up because of nervousness,” said Bencic. That’s why she’s had a mental coach on her team for a long time, who helps her cope with the psychological stress of the competition.Above all, this helps her to deal with media criticism, and it sometimes goes below the belt: “Pummellinda instead of Pretty Belinda” was already said in the Aargauer Zeitung. Bencic therefore had to learn early on to develop thick skin. “When you’re on a wave of success, the press loves you, but as soon as you lose, you’re out of their league.”
Despite winning medals, Bencic is harsh on himself: You’re only really someone in professional tennis if you’re up the legendary Center Court at Wimbledon. “Of course I finally want to win a Grand Slam title, that is the greatest wish of every tennis player and I will do everything to make it come true,” said Bencic.Despite all her ambition, the athlete takes leisure time very seriously. “You always have to be aware that you are still human and have the same needs as others,” says the 26-year-old. For her, this includes long walks with her dogs and her boyfriend, who is also her trainer: “Many people think it is problematic to be able to separate private and professional life, but since he can accompany me on tours, it works perfectly.
”Serena and Venus Williams, Iga Swiatek, Naomi Osaka — there is hardly a player on the top ten list who hasn’t beaten Bencic, but there is one opponent she just doesn’t seem to be able to cope with: her own body. Be it foot, wrist or tailbone, her injury misery runs like a common thread through her career. It’s almost like a natural axiom in tennis: the closer you get to the top, the more vulnerable you become. Wimbledon 2016, the French Open 2020 or the Australian Open 2022 – Bencic always had to cancel shortly before the tournament began. In 2017 she injured her wrist so badly that she had to take half a year off. She fell to 318th place in the global ranking, beyond any significance — and the athlete’s golden facade began to crumble.
It began with breaking away from her father to pursue her own sporting path. Ivan Bencic’s painstakingly built life’s work, his brilliant master plan, was in danger of failing. At the same time, she ended her collaboration with her sponsor Marcel Niederer after 14 years and consciously withdrew from the public eye. This time consisted less of tennis training and more of intensive meditation, dancing and the first attempts at art. It seemed as if Bencic was just another tennis star whose light had now burned out.
She would probably never have returned from this crisis if she hadn’t met Martin Hromkovic back then: Bencic’s fitness trainer and later partner pulled her out of obscurity and forged her Olympic gold: In Tokyo, 2020, when most people were in dreary isolation, wrote Bencic tennis history. She was the first Swiss woman to win gold in the women’s singles. She was lying on the floor laughing and crying and told the New York Times: “If I were to end my career now, I would still be happy, because no one can take away what I have achieved today.
”She started early — the Swiss woman was already on the tennis court at the age of two. Her father Ivan Bencic, the son of Slovak immigrants, did not leave her side. “My father was there at every training session and always had to play with me until I finally beat him.
“I wasn’t a good loser even back then,” says Bencic. Her father was a successful ice hockey player in his youth, which is why the media often criticized him for using his daughter to realize his own Olympic dream.He was also the one who followed his daughter’s every move at the edge of the tennis court. And he convinced Marcel Niederer, a friend from his ice hockey days, about the “Belinda Bencic Project”.
Niederer, who had made millions selling instant coffee, decided to invest his money in a six-year-old. Bencic’s parents then put everything on one card: They quit their jobs and moved so that Bencic could train at the tennis academy run by Melanie Molitor, mother of Martina Hingis. “My parents paused their lives for mine and I realized early on what a huge responsibility that entails,” said Bencic. The first successes soon became apparent: at the age of 15, she won the junior championship in Wimbledon and established herself as number one in her age group worldwide. With the titles came high-paying advertising contracts with Rolex, Nike and Mercedes-Benz.
Bencic still has to go without in many areas of her life: every meal is recorded and done in consultation with her nutrition coach; There is hardly any time for the family. Bencic: “I’m on the road almost eleven months a year. “Christmas and birthday parties with the family then fall flat” – the price of victory.
