Eastbourne: Belinda Bencic beats Agnieszka Radwanska
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Wimbledon 2015 |
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Venue: All England Club Dates: 29 June - 12 July |
Play: From 11:30 BST on outside courts and 13:00 on Centre Court and Court One |
BBC coverage: across BBC TV, radio and online starts on 29 June with 153 hours of tennis scheduled and up to 15 live streams available. |
Read more: BBC coverage bigger than ever and TV and radio schedules. |
Teenager Belinda Bencic claimed her first WTA Tour title by beating ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the Eastbourne International final.
Swiss Bencic, 18, whitewashed her 13th-ranked Polish opponent in the final set to record a 6-4 4-6 6-0 victory.
Radwanska, 26, who won this title in 2008, is a former world number two and was runner-up at Wimbledon in 2012.
Bencic goes into Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, having reached two grass-court finals this month.
Who is Belinda Bencic? | |
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Born in Switzerland in 1997, she first hit a tennis ball age two | Father Ivan is also her coach |
Trained at the Melanie Molitor tennis school from age four | Former ice hockey layer Marcel Niederer invested money in her career |
Won Junior French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2013 | Had won $1.1m (£699,000) career prize money before Eastbourne |
The two-time Junior Grand Slam winner was beaten in the final of the Topshelf Open in the Netherlands two weeks ago, an event in the second tier of the WTA's tournaments.
Watched by compatriot and 1997 Wimbledon champion Martina Hingis, unseeded Bencic displayed an impressive range of shots to overcome Radwanska.
More from BBC Sport's Wimbledon coverage | |
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"This is one of the biggest days of my life, it's a dream come true," she said. "I am so happy. It's incredible. I will never forget this."
Bencic trained at the tennis school of Hingis's mother, Melanie Molitor, from the age of four and was coached daily by Molitor from the age of seven.
She is seeded 30th for Wimbledon, where she will start the tournament against Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova, while 13th seed Radwanska faces Czech Lucie Hradecka in the first round.
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