Bencic defeated American Sofia Kenin in a back-and-forth three-set battle Saturday in Tokyo, winning 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-2 in 2 hours and 15 minutes to advance to the final against Linda Noskova.
Tokyo: Scores | Draw | Order of play
It marks Bencic’s second final appearance at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, coming 10 years after she finished runner-up at the event as an 18-year-old. The win also sends her to her 10th career final and second of the season, having captured the WTA 500 title in Abu Dhabi in February.
“It was a very difficult match, for sure,” Bencic said after the match. “I’m really exhausted at this point. I don’t know how (I got through it). I just tried to shorten the points, take more risks and try to go for it. Thankfully, today it went my way.”
She credited the crowd with helping both players push through.
“It was very motivating to see a full stadium,” she said. “Thanks to the fans and the crowd, we were able to fight, and both take out whatever we had in us.”
While it wasn’t the smoothest path to victory, perhaps Bencic can take solace in the fact that the match concluded in under three hours, which hasn’t always been a given for her this season.
More to come…