Today's Edition
KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)
The 2023 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open champion and Dubai resident Belinda Bencic got a huge boost of self-confidence back in her mindset as she became the first player to reach the semi-finals at the International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City, on Thursday.
Meanwhile, top seed Elena Rybakina dashed local fans' spirits when the Arab favourite and Tunisia's Ons Jabeur went down fighting in a three-set thriller to the Kazakh. Rybakina was stretched all the way in her 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(4) victory over Jabeur. She will now go up against Bencic.
Coming back from maternity leave and back in action since October, Bencic still had much trepidation that she may have fallen off the pace compared to her peers despite not having much time away.
A 7-5, 6-3 win against former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the Emirate will do her morale a world of good as she stepped into the semi-finals hoping for a second title in as many years.
Soon after winning the title two years ago, she went on maternity leave and gave birth to daughter Bella last April. The 27-year-old has had to climb her way back up the rankings.
"I was really worried that the speed of the ball and the speed of how the girls are serving now, and returning and everything, would be maybe a bit too much, or a little bit too early for me," Bencic said in her on-court interview. "But I'm also someone that plays fast, and I'm happy to see it's not such a big difference. The most I saw is that I have to work physically very hard."
Bencic has taken a step-by-step approach on the comeback trail. She returned to pro action at ITF level, then reached the final of the Limoges WTA 125 in December. Having tested the waters, she returned to the WTA Tour in 2025 and reached the fourth round of the Australian Open via a win over fellow mother Naomi Osaka.
Already back up to No.157 in the rankings, Bencic is now guaranteed to be inside the top 120 next Monday after this win with the path up to Saturday's final yet to be travelled.
The win over Vondrousova means she has quickly re-established herself as a threat at the top of the game. As former top-10 players, both Vondrousova and Bencic are here in Abu Dhabi as wild cards this week, and hadn't played each other in four years.
They had a trio of meetings in 2021. The most high-profile of those was the Tokyo Olympic Games final, won by Bencic 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. Since then, Vondrousova has endured two separate six-month layoffs due to injury; in between them, she claimed her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon 2023.
Gusty conditions meant that both players struggled to hold serve, and there were 11 breaks in total – including six in a row to close out the first set. But despite the general lack of momentum, it was Bencic who leapt out to an early lead in both sets, then just about managed to keep her nose in front.
Vondrousova found early but brief success with her signature drop shot, but by the time the players sat down for the first changeover Bencic had begun to read them and track them down. The Czech retreated from the strategy, and consequently, Bencic was free to take the upper hand by redirecting pace in her preferred style of exchanges.
"I always feel against Marketa it's very tactical," said Bencic. "It always feels it's like chess a little bit. The wind was getting a bit in our way for both of us, and it was tough to serve. But we managed to do well and we had some great rallies."
