Reuters
[Source: Reuters]
Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic won her first WTA title since returning from maternity leave, defeating American Ashlyn Krueger 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 in Saturday’s final at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open.
In her fourth tour-level event since giving birth to her daughter Bella last April, the 27-year-old Bencic won for the first time since 2023, also at Abu Dhabi.
Seeking her second WTA title, the 20-year-old Krueger jumped ahead with 21 winners to Bencic’s eight en route to a first-set win. But Bencic, the 2021 Olympic gold medalist and former World No. 4, evened the match with 13 winners and only three unforced errors in the second set.
Bencic broke Krueger’s serve for a 2-0 lead in the third set, then secured another break point for a 5-1 advantage.
With her 30th winner of the match, Bencic put the two-hour, 23-minute match away, then held her baby during the trophy presentation.
Transylvania Open
No. 1 seed Anastasia Potapova of Russia advanced to the final at in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, taking down unseeded Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-3, 7-5.
Potapova will face unseeded Italian Lucia Bronzetti, who won her semifinal match when her opponent, Czech fifth seed Katerina Siniakova, retired due to injury in the first set with Bronzetti leading 4-0.
Potapova won 24 of her 29 first-service points (82.8 percent), had five aces and saved three of five break points. She’s seeking her third WTA title, while Bronzetti is looking for second win on the tour.
