Preview: Madrid Open: Belinda Bencic vs. Hailey Baptiste- prediction, head-to-head, tournament so far

With a place in the quarter-finals up for grabs, Belinda Bencic and Hailey Baptiste will square off in a singles outing for the first time at the Madrid Open on Monday.

In her round of 32 clash, Bencic outlasted Diana Shnaider 6-2 7-6 (8-6), while her upcoming opponent upset Jasmine Paolini to get to this stage, 7-5 6-3.

Match preview

After another strong opening set on Saturday, Belinda Bencic persevered thanks to a relatively error-free affair versus Shnaider.

She was a lot better on serve than we saw in her opener, with the Swiss lady failing to register a single double fault and boasting an impressive 72% on her first serve.

This upcoming match will mark her fifth consecutive appearance in the last 16 of a WTA event with the Flawil-born player advancing into the quarter-finals of those previous two tournaments.

Only once in 2026 have we seen her suffer a defeat on the singles draw when winning the opening set, when Elina Svitolina came from behind at the Dubai Open to win 6-4 1-6 3-6.

Statistically speaking, she has often been her own worst enemy this year, registering over 50 double faults with over 20 aces.

That said, she has won close to 70% of her first serves across all surfaces in 2026 and captured nearly 75% of her service games overall.

Winning a nail-biting opening set against the seasoned Paolini seemed to provide Baptiste with a significant psychological boost going forward in that match.

Although the American had six double faults, her serve was often too much for the Italian to contain, with Baptiste hitting 14 aces overall.

Meanwhile, she won 73% of her first serves while converting three of her nine break point opportunities to move into the last 16 for the third time in her last four singles events.

A win on Monday would send her into the quarter-finals of a WTA event for the first time since the Miami Open, when she was ousted in the last eight by Aryna Sabalenka.

So far this year, she has won over 70% of her service games and saved more than 57% of them, which has proved vital on many occasions.

At the same time, she has won over 40% of her return points across all surfaces in 2026 and converted close to 40% of her break points.

Tournament so far

Belinda Bencic:

Round of 64: vs. Petra Marcinko 6-4 6-2

Round of 32: vs. Diana Shnaider 6-2 7-6 (8-6)

Hailey Baptiste:

Round of 64: vs. Kaitlin Quevedo 6-1 6-4

Round of 32: vs. Jasmine Paolini 7-5 6-3

We say: Bencic to win in two sets

Baptiste showed a lot of determination in her duel with Paolini, but we trust that Bencic will overwhelm her as the Swiss player has been much more on the level and consistent throughout the year.