Today's Edition
KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)
When Belinda Bencic took to the courts for her first match at Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open last week on a nippy afternoon, her husband Martin Kromkovic and six-month-old Bella sat in the comfort of the media centre, given that the buzz around was too much for the youngest one even as her mom got down to work.
It was a profitable one for the family in the end as she picked up the glittering Arabic-themed trophy and a winner's cheque of $164,000 to lend some financial security to the family.
Maybe her success story is the start of a purple patch and deserving for the efforts of the Dubai-resident Swiss player, yet the fact remains she got help from the WTA Tour with their evolving rules around maternity leave where steps have been taken to protect the player rankings of the new mothers for a certain period of time.
Bencic secured her first title since returning from a 13-month break for motherhood and her come-from-behind victory over American Ashlyn Krueger on Saturday at the Zayed Sports City has also become an inspirational win for fellow mothers such as Naomi Osaka and others.
The 2021 Tokyo Olympic gold medallist is also the winner of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Open in 2023 and she got back to action last October. Down to 157 in the rankings at the start of the week, she beat the 51st-ranked Krueger 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 for her career's ninth title.
"It's tough to describe into words," Bencic said, hugging on to the trophy while Bella watched. "I think only we know what we went through as a family. We are so appreciative and blessed to have Bella in our lives, and then also to be able to still do what I want to do, and then also having the good results on top of that – the emotions were just that I'm incredibly grateful, blessed and just a mini dream come true."
Bencic only managed to win 38% of her first-serve points in the opening set, but that statistic dramatically improved in the second, allowing the Swiss to carve out a 4-0 lead before forcing a decider.
Despite needing a medical timeout to treat hand blisters halfway through the final set, Bencic kept up her momentum and wrapped up the win in two hours and 23 minutes. Bencic was ranked outside the top 1,000 in November and will re-enter the top 65 when the new rankings are released on Monday.
