Tokyo Olympic tennis gold medalist Belinda Bencic of Switzerland announced she is pregnant with her first child.
“Expecting our little miracle soon!” was posted on her social media. “We can’t wait to meet you.”
Bencic, 26, did not say if or when she hopes to return to competition after childbirth. Depending on the timeline, if she wants to play in the Olympics, she could get in the field on a protected ranking from maternity leave.
“She is due later in the spring 2024, and she is intending to come back as soon as she is physically able to following the birth of her child,” a representative for Bencic wrote in an email.
Bencic’s most recent tournament match was Sept. 11.
She is ranked 14th in the world after reaching the round of 16 at three majors in 2023 and winning two other tournaments.
She won the Tokyo Olympics as the ninth seed, defeating 2023 Wimbledon champion Markéta Vondroušová in the final 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. Bencic scored three-set wins in each of her last four matches en route to gold.
The day after the singles final, Bencic and Viktorija Golubic took silver in doubles, dropping the final to top-seeded Czechs Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková.