Belinda Bencic claims Abu Dhabi Open for first title since baby break

Belinda Bencic has claimed her first WTA title since returning to the tour after giving birth.

The Swiss tennis star, who won Olympic women's singles gold at Tokyo 2020, came from set down to beat USA's Ashlyn Krueger 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the final of the Abu Dhabi Open on Saturday (8 February).

Bencic enjoyed a great week in the WTA 500 event, beating Veronika Kudermetova 6-0, 6-0 before defeating 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in a repeat of the Tokyo Olympic final. In Friday's semi-finals, she put out another former Wimbledon champion in top seed and Abu Dhabi title holder Elena Rybakina.

Young Bella, born to Bencic and her conditioning coach Martin Hromkovic last April, was courtside during the match and joined in the celebrations after her mother's triumph.

This was the 27-year-old's eighth WTA Tour singles title in addition to her victory at Tokyo 2020. She now has a week off as she did not receive a main draw wildcard for the first WTA 1000 tournament of the season, the Qatar Open, which starts on Sunday.

The win saw her move up 92 places in the world rankings to 65, still some way short of her career-high of four achieved early in 2020.

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