Both of her parents are active in sporting activities. While her father, Ivan, played professional hockey in the Swiss National League A and B.
At the same time, her mother, Dana, was a high-level handball player. At age two, Belinda got to hit her first tennis ball.
She entered her first tournament and began competing with opponents much older than her. Her father encouraged her through this time.
At age five, her father arranged for her to train with Martina Hingis’ mother, Melanie Molitor, who was also her coach.
Molitor agreed to her father’s request to gauge Belinda’s skills, which led to her once-a-week training for about a year. Belinda also spent six months at Nick Bollettieri Academy at age six.
Since turning professional, Belinda has been endorsed by Yonex for racquets and Adidas for clothing and footwear since 2011. Nike endorsed Belinda Bencic upon her return to professional tennis in 2018.
She has been using Yonex EZONE 100 racquets throughout her professional career. There’d be a lift in her ranking from how she’s going.
Who Is Belinda Bencic’s Coach in 2023?
Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Tursunov is a retired Russian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 20 in November 2006 and was considered one of the best Russian players of his generation.
Tursunov has won four ATP Tour singles titles and reached the quarterfinals of the 2007 Australian Open. He retired from professional tennis in 2016.
After retiring from playing, Tursunov became a coach and is currently the coach of Belinda Bencic. He previously worked with WTA Tour tennis players Elena Vesnina, Aryna Sabalenka, Anett Kontaveit, and Emma Raducanu. His work with Sabalenka and Kontaveit has led to them breaking into the top 10 of the WTA rankings.
“He’s definitely a very tough coach, says what you need to hear, and sometimes it’s really uncomfortable stuff. That’s what I look for, what takes me out of my comfort zone.
There’s no thinking, “Oh, I’m so good at this, I’m doing great.” It works, so I have a lot of confidence in him. I just feel like we’re going to have a great year,” – Bencic said at the press conference, commenting on her partnership with Tursunov.
Former coaches
Sebastian Sachs
Born in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The 30-year-old coach involuntarily started playing tennis at age five.
His sister, who’s four years older, wanted to play tennis. While he was not allowed to stay alone at home, he was compelled to go with her. Six months later, he started playing in the federation.
While in Germany, he once held a spot in the top 199 German men’s rankings. On the line, he wanted to be a tennis pro but was set back by injuries. Sachs got to the semifinals of the Racquets Club Collegiate Invitational.
In 2015, he gave up his dream and has been coaching ever since. Sebastian did not rank higher than 1052 in the ATP World Tour rankings.
Before coaching Belinda, he also trained Victoria Azarenka and Julia Görges.
In this period of training Belinda, he has the task of making her a shooting star. He gave her excellent tips to help her improve her serve.
He advanced her to the round of three in the French Open grand slam singles and led her to win Charleston 2022. He’s been on the team alongside Belinda’s fitness coach, Martin Hromkovic.
Melanie Molitor
She was groomed by Melanie once a week for about a year. Melanie Molitor is a Swiss tennis coach, born February 23, 1957. At a younger age, she played in the Czechoslovakia Tennis League.
Melanie moved from Moravia to the east of Slovakia, married, and gave birth to Martina Hingis. When Martina was six, she separated from her husband and moved back to Moravia and later Switzerland.
She opened a tennis school where she could train people in the art of tennis playing. In Wallerau, with its tennis hall. From 1996-1998, she was the team boss of the Swiss Fed Cup team.
Before she started coaching Belinda Bencic, she coached her daughter, Martina Hingis. Martina was one of the best players. In recent years, Belinda has done so much thanks to her.
Melanie has had a successful coaching career: in 1997, she moved Martina Hingis to number one in the WTA rankings, and Martina won five grand slams that year; in 1997.
She was named Switzerland’s coach of the year; as the Swiss Fed Cup team manager, she reached the final against Spain in 1998; and in 2015.
She moved Belinda to number fifteen in the WTA rankings. As a junior, Belinda was coached by her father, Ivan, and Melanie Molitor. At some point, Belinda’s father became her primary coach.
Vladimír Pláteník
He was the former coach of the 2014 Australian Open finalist, Dominika Cibulková. He also coached Anna Sharapova. Though his time with Belinda Bencic was short, he gave his best.
Pláteník worked with her from Wimbledon in July until mid-October 2018, when her father took over.
Ivan Bencic
Ivan Bencic has always had a keen interest in sports. At the same time, he played hockey professionally for the Swiss National League A and B. He also played tennis for recreational purposes.
Ivan brought Belinda and Melanie Molitor into contact, who became her primary coach at age 5. Ivan and Belinda separated professionally along the way.
Still, they got back together later due to Belinda’s declining fortunes in the tournament and ranking. Belinda reached the final round of the Luxembourg Open on their debut back together.
Belinda Bencic’s achievements with different coaches
We have collected in the table the data about the trophies won by Belinda Bencic under the guidance of various coaches.
| Coach | Year of service | Title |
| Melanie Molitor | 2004-2012 | 2012, Swiss Fed Cup. |
| Vladimír Pláteník | 2018 | 2018 Luxembourg |
| Ivan Bencic | 2013-2016, 2018-2021 | 2014 Swiss Fed Cup
2015, Prague 2015 Washington DC 2015 Eastbourne, Toronto 2019 Dubai, Moscow 2021 Olympics. |
| Sebastian Sachs | 2021-2022 | 2022 Charleston, Gold Olympic 2021 |
| Dmitry Tursunov | 2022- | 2023 Adelaide International 2
2023 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open |
