Belinda Bencic wins second WTA title since becoming a mother

Belinda Bencic claimed her second WTA title since becoming a mother by beating Linda Noskova in the Pan Pacific Open final.

Bencic, 28, who has now won 10 WTA tournaments, lost the final of this event to Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets 10 years ago.

But she dominated the Czech Republic’s Noskova 6-2 6-3 to take the title this time around.

Bencic’s other WTA triumph this year came in Abu Dhabi just 10 months after the arrival of her first child – and less than four months since her return from more than a year out on maternity leave.

“I feel like Tokyo and Japan is a happy place in my career, a place where I’ve had good success and I just love being here,” said Switzerland’s Bencic, who won gold in the women’s singles at the Tokyo Olympics.

“I had a deja vu moment on court. I had match point on the same side of the court, went for the same serve and was telling myself the same things. I had goosebumps, it was really special. It’s great to win here again.”

When Bencic, a former world number four in 2020, returned to the sport in October 2024, her world ranking had dropped to 1,213.

She has risen up to 13th in the rankings and earlier this year reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon before being beaten by eventual champion Iga Swiatek.

“I’m really enjoying my time back on tour and I think it’s showing in the results,” she added.

“I couldn’t be more happy and I’m definitely surprised. This was definitely not planned.”

“It’s hard work but it’s a lot of self-belief and a lot of mental belief as well.

“I’m really happy to have this confirmation with myself that I’m able to try to even beat my best ranking from before.”

Noskova, 20, also lost the China Open final at the start of the month and was looking to add to her solitary WTA win.