WTA Tour: New mom Belinda Bencic wins Abu Dhabi Open title

Former world number 4 Bencic celebrated the arrival of her first child, Bella, in April before making her comeback at the end of October at a low-level tournament in Hamburg. She joins a growing list of mothers who have won tournaments on the WTA Tour.

Now, just over a month after the 27-year-old returned to playing on the tour, she a winning a prestigious WTA 500 event in Abu Dhabi.

It was one of the biggest wins in the career of 2021 Olympic gold medallist Bencic after she defeated top seed and defending champion Elena Rybakina to reach the final.

"It's tough to describe in words," said Bencic after her emotional win. "Only we know what we went through as a family.

"We are so appreciative and blessed to have Bella in your lives, and then also to be able to do still what I want to do, and then also having the good results on top of that â- the emotions were just that I'm incredibly grateful, blessed and just a mini dream come true."

Bencic spoke about her tennis comeback last month, as she admitted she had to be cautious as she initially made her return on the ITF's World Tennis Tour last October.

"I just took it very slow from the start, you know, my comeback," she said last month.

"I was listening a lot to my body. It's such a big change, physically mostly. Then you start to play, and obviously you realize, okay, your tennis is there.

"So I took time to play last season some smaller tournaments to get in the rhythm of playing. Obviously, like, mastering the logistics of travelling with Bella and everything.'

"I would say, you know, if we wouldn't have gotten into the United Cup as Team Switzerland, I would even consider maybe not even playing here in Australia just yet, because I just would think it's too early maybe. But I'm happy we came here.

"I felt like the United Cup and also in Adelaide I kind of got to play matches and through qualifying. That helped me a lot to just kind of get the matches in.

"Then I'm just really taking it match by match and being, like, appreciative, that I'm able to play against top players and kind of testing myself.

"You cannot just be out for a year and a half, I think, and kind of expect that you can just jump in right where you left off.

"I think there is definitely something to build up. Obviously I think the most important for me was to see and test my body, to test also, you know, playing back-to-back matches, and obviously try to play a little bit on the lower tournaments and also work my ranking back up.

"It's going to help me if I can really build and win matches and play matches and play three-set matches and, yeah, kind of improve myself by playing."

Bencic may not have been expecting to win such a prestigious tournament so soon into her comeback and the 500 ranking points added to Bencic's record after her win in Abu Dhabi have given her a huge boost in the WTA Rankings, as she has leapt to No 65 in the live rankings.

That would represent a rise of a stunning 92 places, with the officially updated list set to be confirmed on Monday.

With her win in Abu Dhabi, Bencic became the first mother to claim a WTA singles title since Elina Svitolina hoisted the champion's trophy at Strasbourg in May of 2023.

Margaret Court - This record-breaking Aussie champion became the first mother to win a Grand Slam in the Open era when she defeated Evonne Goolagong, 6-4 7-5 in the final of the 1973 Australian Open.

Evonne Goolagong - The first and so far only other to win Wimbledon, she lifted the title in 1980 thanks to a 6-1 7-6(4) success over Evert.

Kim Clijsters - The Belgian legend made history in 2009 by winning the US Open, becoming the first wildcard to do so by beating Caroline Wozniacki 7-5 6-3.

Serena Williams - The American legend won her first WTA Tour title as a mother in 2020 when she won the ASB Classic in Auckland. It proved to be her final title as a professional player.

Elina Svitolina - Won her first WTA title in nearly two years and her first since becoming a mother by beating Anna Blinkova 6-2 6-3 in the final at the Internationaux de Strasbourg in May 2023.

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