At senior level she reached the semi-finals at the 2008 European Championships in Kiev, but she lost to Russia's Sofiya Velikaya and came away with a bronze medal. She was four-time champion of Hungary from 2009 to 2012. In the 2009–10 season she climbed her first World Cup podium with a silver medal at the Challenge New York after being defeated in the final by Olympic champion Mariel Zagunis. Benkó attempted to qualify to the 2012 Summer Olympics, but she lost to Germany's Alexandra Bujdoso in the table of 16 of the Olympic zone qualifying tournament in Bratislava. Upset by this failure, she took a four-month break from competition.