Belinda Bencic staged a strong comeback and defeated Ashlyn Krueger 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 at the Abu Dhabi WTA 500 final. This victory marked her impressive return to the tour four months after her maternity leave.
The Swiss former world No. 4, now ranked outside the top 150, gave birth to her daughter, Bella, in April last year. She becomes the first mother to win a WTA singles title since Elina Svitolina’s victory in May 2023. This is also the biggest title won by a mother on the WTA tour since Victoria Azarenka’s triumph at the 2020 Cincinnati Open, which is a WTA 1000 event.
The athlete’s previous title also came in Abu Dhabi in February 2023. With her win, the 27-year-old Tokyo Olympics gold medallist remains undefeated at the event, with an impressive 9-0 record.
Bencic said, “It was a big dream for me to come back and play in front of her (Bella) and to win the tournament… This is the first tournament I’ve won twice … I will have to come back here for the rest of my career!”
In a social media post, the athlete also shared: “Pretty special 🏆 #9”
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Highlights of the game
Krueger played a strong first set, striking 21 winners. However, Bencic bounced back in the second set, keeping her unforced errors to three as she took charge of the match.
In the deciding set, Bencic broke early to take a 2-0 lead and then broke again to extend her advantage to 5-1.
After two hours and 23 minutes, she hit her 30th winner to claim the title. She then posed with the trophy in one hand and her daughter in the other, sharing the special moment with her family.
Krueger praised Bencic: “It’s so impressive, you coming back, being a mother. It’s really inspirational.”