Belinda Bencic's comeback from maternity earned hit a new milestone on Friday at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, as she dethroned defending champion and top seed Elena Rybakina in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 semifinal to reach her first Hologic WTA Tour-level final since becoming a mother last year. 

Abu Dhabi: Draws | Scores | Order of play | 411

Bencic, the 2023 champion in Abu Dhabi, improved to 8-0 in her career at the tournament with a 2 hour and 6 minute victory over the World No. 5, also her first Top 10 victory since the spring of that season. 

Abu Dhabi marks just the seventh tournament at any level for the former World No. 4, playing in the field as a wild card, since the April 2024 birth of her daughter, Bella. To win her first title since the 2023 Credit Open Charleston Open -- played just weeks after she won in Abu Dhabi -- Bencic will face another unseeded opponent in American Ashlyn Krueger, who is through to her first WTA 500-level final.

"I'm so happy that this is happening," Bencic said after the match. "I worked really hard to come back. It was definitely not an easy road, and I'm so excited that the results are coming so fast.

"It doesn't mean the work is over, I have a long way to go, but I'm really happy how it's working on the court and I'm really enjoying myself."

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Against Rybakina, Bencic trailed by a set for the first time in her week thus far, but an early break of serve in set two -- her first of the match -- helped put her on course for the upset. The former Top 10 player's counter-punching abilities rounded into form as the match wore on, as she routinely wrong-footed Rybakina, hit behind her, and finished off points into the open court. 

Despite any perceived gulf in groundstroke power between the two players, Bencic hit just thee fewer winners than Rybakina -- 32 to 35 -- and managed far fewer unforced errors (26 to 38). 

After failing to convert any of the four break points she created for herself in the first set, Bencic broke serve twice in each of the sets set won. She looked on course to close out 

"It's never easy. The tennis scoring is so crazy that you never win the match until you win it," Bencic said. "My heart was beating [fast], and I remembered that I was playing Elena and it's not easy to just win. You have to win a couple of times, and I'm happy I stayed calm at 5-4."

Krueger's breakthrough continues against Noskova

A quarterfinalist in both Brisbane and Adelaide to start 2025, World No. 51 Krueger improved to 9-3 in main-draw level matches this season with a 7-6(2), 6-4 win over Linda Noskova, booking a spot in her second career WTA singles final.

The 2023 Osaka champion, who previously upset No. 3 seed Daria Kasatkina and No. 8 seed Leykah Fernandez en route to the semifinals, came from 4-2 down in the first set to win the tiebreak and held off a furious effort by the World No. 39 in set two. From 5-1 behind, Noskova saved a match point and cobbled together three straight games, before Krueger served out victory from 0-30.