Belinda Bencic is ranked No. 12 in the world in the female singles division. She has won two singles and doubles titles on the WTA and the ITF and has already beaten some tennis greats like world No. 1 Serena Williams.
That’s a feat considering Belinda only turned 18 this year and has yet to get her driver’s license.
Bencic was born on March 10, 1997 in Flawil, Switzerland . In 2001, she trained at the Melanie Molitor tennis school. Three years later, she got the attention of Melanie herself (as a backgrounder, Molitor is the mother and coach of former No. 1 player Martina Hingis).
The world took notice of Belinda when she joined the WTA tour at the age of 15 in 2012. Her first appearance was in the Swiss Fedcup team against Belarus and Australia and knocked down her first Premier junior tournament win. She won two back-to-back ITF tourneys in the Czech Republic.
2013 proved fruitful for Belinda as she notched wins and got Juniors Grand Slam titles in Paris and Wimbledon.
2015 may be Belinda’s highlight as she beat Serena Williams en route to winning the 2015 Rogers Cup. With this victory, Belinda became the youngest player ever to have won the tournament, erasing Ana Ivanovic’s name from the record books.