Strong resistance and an impressive reaction kept the Swiss going Belinda Bencic in the Abu Dhabi tournament to victory, after saving three match points in the final against the Russian Lyudmila Samsonovawith victory in his hand and fell after almost three hours of play.
Bencic turned the situation around to achieve victory by winning, by 1-6, 7-6 (8) and 6-4, in two hours and 48 minutes.
Bencic, the ninth-ranked player in the world, stuck to his options in the second set tiebreaker, where he held his own despite being tied three times. Samsonova did not close the match and the Olympic champion appeared again.
It was a relief for the Helvetian who ended the curse against the Russian whom he always lost. On grass, in Berlin, and on hard court in Luxembourg, also in 2021 and in the Dillie Jean King Cup tie. Three matches and three losses.
The one in Abu Dhabi is the second trophy won by Bencic in 2023 after the one in Adelaide and the eighth of his career.
For its part, the Russian Anastasia Potapovaeighth seed, won the second title of his career by prevailing in the final of the tournament of Linz Croatian Petra Marticsixth favorite, by 6-3 and 6-1.
The 21-year-old player from Saratov added the victory in Linz, obtained after 78 minutes, to the achievement in Istanbul last year, the only one so far in his career.
This is Potapova’s fifth final, having lost in Tashkent and Moscow in 2018 and in Prague in 2022.
Source: La Verdad
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