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.
Marathon mentality: Bencic began the year just inside the top 500 as she returned to the WTA Tour for her first full season since giving birth to her daughter. Since then, she has made a habit of spending as much time on court as possible, including playing the longest match of the 2025 season just over a week ago in Ningbo.
She has followed that with a string of grueling contests, including a narrow three-set loss to Jasmine Paolini in the Ningbo quarterfinals and a comeback win over Karolina Muchova in the Tokyo quarterfinals.
The strategy has largely paid off. With her win over Kenin, Bencic improved to 14-6 in three-set matches this season.
But she’ll face a fresh challenge in Sunday’s final. Literally. Noskova has spent just 35 minutes on court between the quarterfinals and semifinals, advancing via retirement and walkover. Against such a well-rested opponent, Bencic’s grind-it-out approach may be tested.
Key moments: With that said, it’s the approach that got Bencic this far, and it was no different against Kenin. Both players entered having saved match points in the quarterfinals, and the margins were razor-thin from the start of this semifinal match.
Bencic earned triple break point leading 2-1 in the first set, but Kenin saved all three — the first two with forehand winners and the third with her backhand. Bencic forced a fourth break point in the same game, but Kenin held to level at 2-2.
The two traded holds the rest of the set until a tiebreak, where Kenin grabbed a 4-2 lead at the changeover. Bencic responded with four straight points to earn two set points, converting the second to claim the opener in just over an hour.
Kenin attempted to make the first move in the second set, earning break points in the second game. Bencic once again responded with four straight points, this time to hold for 1-1. Kenin then saved two break points of her own to hold for 2-1 before securing the first break of the match for a 3-1 lead.
After starting 0-for-10 on break points, the pair combined to go 5-for-16 by match’s end.
Bencic had more to say, as she broke back at love in the next game, but Kenin immediately regained the lead with another break to take a 4-2 lead. She held set point at 5-2 on Bencic’s serve, but the Swiss held to stay alive before Kenin ultimately closed out the set with a forehand winner to force a decider.
In the third set, Bencic broke Kenin for a 3-1 lead and never looked back.
High-level tennis: Despite the physical toll, the match was played at a consistently high level, with both players often appearing at their best at the same time.
Bencic finished with 47 winners to 27 unforced errors, while Kenin tallied 50 winners and 36 unforced errors.
Both players also exceeded their season averages on serve. Bencic landed 67% of her first serves and won nearly 74% of those points. Kenin landed just over 68% of her first serves, winning 66% of those points and nearly 57% on her second serve, slightly ahead of Bencic’s 53%.
In the end, Bencic sealed the win with a backhand winner to break serve one last time, and when the dust settled, the two were separated by just six points across the entire match.
Noskova advances to final after Rybakina withdraws with back injury
Earlier in the day, Elena Rybakina withdrew from the Toray Pan Pacific Open ahead of her semifinal match against Noskova, citing a back injury.
“I’m very sorry I can’t play today,” Rybakina said in a statement. “I have been having problems with my back this week and can’t play 100%. I am disappointed that my fans will not see me today, but I hope to see you next year.”
Rybakina punched her ticket to the WTA Finals with a quarterfinal victory over Victoria Mboko on Friday.
Noskova advances to the final via walkover, marking her third final appearance of the season — all since July. She is still seeking her first title of 2025, having lost both previous finals in three sets.
Noskova and Bencic have yet to face each other in their careers.
AloJapan.com