Everybody (Bencic’s Back) in Abu Dhabi final
IT HAS been an incredible turnaround for former Top 5 player Belinda Bencic who in the space of a few months went from battling it out on the Challenger Tour to reaching a WTA 500 final, defeating a current Top 5 player en route to said final. The Swiss star stunned top seed Elena Rybakina in the Abu Dhabi semi-finals to reach the deciding match where she will take on surprise packet American, Ashlyn Krueger.
Bencic returned from maternity leave late last year in an W75 event where she lost to a player ranked just inside the Top 300 in the second round. Fast forward a couple of months and to kick off 2025, Bencic reached the Round of 16 in both Adelaide – from qualifying – and the Australian Open, the latter of which included wins over two Grand Slam champions in Jelena Ostapenko and Naomi Osaka.
The Swiss talent added a third Grand Slam winner to her list of scalps overnight when she toppled Rybakina in Abu Dhabi. The top seed has a been a touch off her best, but still reached the semi-finals and went a set up over Bencic early. However the current world 157 – who will crack the Top 100 once again thanks to her run in the Middle East – steadied to post a 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory in two hours and eight minutes.
Bencic played a game that both matched Rybakina, and also kept her within her limitations, hitting just three less winners (35-38), but 12 less unforced errors (26-38). The wildcard won 75 per cent of her first serve points and broke her opponent four times to three during the win.
“I’m so happy that this is happening,” Bencic said post-match. “I worked really hard to come back. “It was definitely not an easy road, and I’m so excited that the results are coming so fast.
“It doesn’t mean the work is over, I have a long way to go, but I’m really happy how it’s working on the court and I’m really enjoying myself.”
Bencic now faces giant-killer Kreuger in the final after the American took out young Czech Linda Noskova in the other semi-final. Kreuger won 7-6 6-4 in a tight one-hour and 43minute contest, hitting seven less unforced errors (18-25) and only two less winners (22-24), all while capitalising with a 73 per cent first serve win rate.
2025 ABU DHABI WTA 500 – SEMI-FINALS RESULTS:
[WC] Belinda Bencic (SUI) defeated [1] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) 3-6 6-3 6-4
Ashlyn Kreuger (USA) defeated Linda Noskova (CZE) 7-6 6-4
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