Unseeded Belinda Bencic rallied to beat No. 2 seed Petra Kvitova 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in the final on Saturday, capping a thrilling run at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates.
Tennis – WTA Premier 5 – Dubai Tennis Championships – Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates – February 23, 2019 Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic celebrates winning the final against Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova REUTERS/Christopher Pike
It’s the third title for Bencic, who hails from Switzerland, and first since 2015.
Bencic was coming off a come-from-behind victory over sixth-seeded Elina Svitolina, the two-time defending champion, in the semifinals. Bencic also beat No. 2 Simona Halep and No. 9 Aryna Sabalenka during the run.
“I cannot believe it,” Bencic said on court afterward. “It’s been an amazing tournament for me. Congrats to Petra, she played an amazing tournament. It was an honor to be on court with her today.
She becomes the first Swiss woman — and second ever — to win in Dubai since Martina Hingis won the title in 2001.
Kvitova, of the Czech Republic, was shooting for her 27th career title and had beaten Bencic in straight sets in each of their three previous meetings.
Bencic will rise to No. 23 (from No. 45) when the new rankings are released on Monday.
Hungarian Ladies Open
Top-seeded Alison Van Uytvanck survived another challenge, eliminating fifth-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7) to advance to the finals in Budapest.
Van Uytvanck, of Belgium, had survived an upset bid from Ukraine’s Kateryna Kozlova the day before, eventually winning 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 .
Eighth-seeded Marketa Vondrousova blasted past 17-year-old Anastasia Potapova of Russia, 6-0, 6-2, in just 61 minutes to earn her spot in the final against Van Uytvanck. The 19-year-old Czech will be going for her second WTA singles title. She won the Ladies Open Biel Bienne in Switzerland in 2017.
—Field Level Media