Belinda Bencic seeks serenity of Federer

Rising Swiss star Belinda Bencic wants to tap into Roger Federer’s serene nature when the two link up at the Mastercard Hopman Cup.

Federer and 20-year-old Bencic will team for a second straight year at the mixed-teams event, starting on Saturday at Perth Arena.

Bencic admits she is still prone to the occasional temper tantrum on court, and she wants to learn from Federer how to become more calm in tense situations.

Federer, who has won a record 19 Grand Slams titles, had to learn how to control his emotions early in his career.

Now, the 36-year-old is rated as one of the most poised players on tour.

“I still have a lot to learn about this, because I’m really emotional on the court,” Bencic said.

“It’s just the way I am. But I’m going to learn a little bit to stay a bit more calm.

“But on the other side, it fires me up too. So it kind of helps my game, as well, sometimes. One day I want to hopefully not have any racquet throws and stuff. I still have time, I think.”

Bencic rose to No.7 in the world at the age of 18 in 2016.

But she tumbled outside the top 300 earlier this year, after five months on the sidelines due to surgery on her left wrist.

That injury had plagued her for nine months but she has since made a successful return to the court and no longer feels any pain.

Bencic ended her 2017 season on a 15-match winning streak while playing on the secondary tour.

That hot run of form saw her ranking rise to world No.74, guaranteeing her an automatic berth at January’s Australian Open.

Bencic said it was a relief to be injury free.

“I was taping it every match for nine months. It was getting tight,” Bencic said of her wrist.

“I did physio and some other treatments and then it was getting better, but then it came back again.

“They told me about the surgery but you have to try everything before that to see if you can avoid it.

“In the end I couldn’t. I’m just happy to be back on court now.”

Federer and Bencic, who narrowly missed out on a spot in last summer’s Hopman Cup final, will start as hot favourites in their tournament opener against Japan’s pairing of Yuichi Sugita and Naomi Osaka.