The final of the WTA 500 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo was set on Saturday, and it will be Linda Noskova, who received a walkover from 2nd-seeded Elena Rybakina, against Belinda Bencic, after the 5th seed battled past Sofia Kenin in 3 tight sets.
It was a very difficult match, for sure. 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. Belinda Bencic
Earlier in the day, Rybakina, the World No 7 from Kazakhstan, withdrew ahead of her semi-final 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 quarter-final win over Canada’s 19-year old Victoria Mboko on Friday.
Noskova advances to the final via a walkover, marking her 3rd final appearance of the season, all of which have come since July, as she seeks her first title of 2025, having lost both her previous finals in 3 sets.
Sofia Kenin rallied to win the second set against Belinda Bencic but lost her semi-final in three on Day 6 of the Pan Pacific Open
© Koji Watanabe/Getty Images
Her opponent in Sunday’s final is Bencic, the 5th seeded Swiss, who defeated American Sofia Kenin, seeded 10th, in a back-and-forth 3-set battle on Saturday in Tokyo, eventually winning through, 7-6(5) 3-6 6-2, in 2 hours and 15 minutes to advance to the final.
It marks Bencic’s 2nd final appearance at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, coming 10 years after she finished as the runner-up at the event as an 18-year-old.
The win also sends her into her 10th career final, and the 2nd 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, Bencic can take solace in the fact that the match concluded in under 3 hours, which hasn’t always been the case for her this season.
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, the 28-year old Swiss 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 gruelling contests, including a narrow 3-set loss to Jasmine Paolini in the Ningbo quarter-finals and a come-back win over Czech 8th seed Karolina Muchova in the Tokyo quarter-finals.
The strategy has largely paid off, as, with her win over Kenin, Bencic improved to 14-6 in 3-set matches this season, but she will face a fresh challenge in Sunday’s final.
Noskova has spent just 35 minutes on court between the quarters and semis, advancing via retirement and walkover., and against such a well-rested opponent, Bencic’s grind-it-out approach may be tested.
Linda Noskova, the 6th seed, has had an easy road to the Tokyo final, with a retirement in the quarter-finals and a walkover from the No 2 seed, Elena Rybakina, in the semi-finals
© Koji Watanabe/Getty Images
It was no different against Kenin, as both arrived having saved match points in the quarter-finals, and the margins were razor-thin from the start of their semi-final encounter.
Bencic, who is now ranked 13, earned triple break point leading 2-1 in the first set, but Kenin saved all 3, the first 2 with forehand winners, and the 3rd with her backhand.
The Swiss forced a 4th break point in the same game, but the American held to level at 2-2.
They traded holds the rest of the way in the set until the tiebreak, in which Kenin grabbed a 4/2 lead at the changeover.
Bencic responded with 4 straight points to earn herself 2 set points, converting on the 2nd to claim the opening set in just over an hour.
Kenin attempted to make the first move in the second, earning break points in the 2nd game, but Bencic once again responded by winning 4 straight points, this time to hold for 1-1.
The 26-year old American then saved 2 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 the match’s end.
Bencic had more to say, though, and she broke back to love in the very next game, but Kenin immediately regained the lead with another break to move 4-2 ahead.
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 level proceedings and force a decider.
In the third set, Bencic broke Kenin for a 3-1 lead, and never looked back as the American visibly faded.
Despite the physical toll, the match was played at a consistently high level, with both often producing their best form at the same time.
Bencic finished off with 47 winners to 27 unforced errors, while Kenin tallied 50 winners against her 36 miscues.
Both also exceeded their season averages on serve, with the Swiss landing 67% of her first serves and winning nearly 74% of those points, while the American fired just over 68% of her first serves in, 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 6 points across the entire match.
Bencic and Noskova have yet to face each other in their careers.
AloJapan.com