Bencic a deserved champion, and other things learnt from inaugural Abu Dhabi Open

The inaugural Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open came to a close on Sunday with Swiss Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic becoming the tournament’s very first champion.

The world No. 9 put in a brave performance in the final, saving three match points late in the second set en route to a 1-6, 7-6(8), 6-4 victory over powerful Russian Liudmila Samsonova.

Here’s what we learned from the WTA 500-level event in the UAE capital.

Bencic keeps rolling

The week in Abu Dhabi further cemented what we already knew — that Bencic is in great form and enjoying a brilliant start to her 2023 campaign.

The 25-year-old has now won two titles in as many months — she also triumphed in Adelaide in January — and her success in the UAE has taken her to the top of the WTA match-wins leaderboard for the season, with 12 victories against just two losses.

Bencic entered the final with a 0-3 record against Samsonova and struggled to make any headway on the Russian’s serve through the first eight games of their clash on Sunday.

She dug deep to create an opening in the second set but failed to serve for it at 5-3, getting broken as Samsonova forced a tiebreak. Bencic stood her ground in the breaker, saving three championship points with some pure hustle, and somehow walked away with the trophy.

Bencic joked earlier in the week about the “Tursunov effect,” referring to her coach Dmitry Tursunov, who joined her camp ahead of the start of this season, and she paid tribute to her team on Sunday for helping her stick with a fierce Samsonova.

“I’m happy I stayed really tough with the head. Sometimes you can be like, ‘OK, it’s match point, I’m just going to get out of here, I’m losing, and just mentally walk away. But I did well not to think that way. I