Belinda Bencic scored the biggest win of her comeback from maternity leave, upsetting Elena Rybakina, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open final.
The 2023 champion is into her first WTA final since giving birth to a daughter last spring, rallying from a set down to dethrone the defending champion in two hours and six minutes on Center Court.
As Bencic was unable to defend her Abu Dhabi title last year, the former world No. 4 remains undefeated at the WTA 500 tournament, taking an eight-match winning streak into the championship match against American Ashlyn Krueger, who defeated Linda Noskova in straight sets earlier on Friday.
But first the Swiss star had to get past Rybakina, the top seed and former world No. 3. The two split their previous two encounters, both occurring in 2021: Bencic won their match at the Tokyo Olympic Games en route to winning the gold medal.
