Belinda Bencic completed a dream week at the Pan Pacific Open, which gave her the 10th title of her career and left her on the verge of a potential return to the top-10. The Swiss called the journey a ‘déjà vu’ in Tokyo, after defeating Linda Noskova in the final this Sunday 6-2, 6-3 and adding her 7th WTA 500 title.
Tokyo is a special setting in Bencic’s career, as she was a gold medalist precisely in the same venue 4 years ago at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (actually held in 2021). There, the Swiss defeated rivals such as Barbora Krejcikova, Elena Rybakina, and Marketa Vondrousova in the final, to win the gold for Switzerland.
Bencic had also played the tournament final at the same venue 10 years ago. On that occasion, a young Bencic – just 18 years old – faced former world No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska, with the Pole taking the victory by a convincing 6-2, 6-2.
However, this time the story was different and ran in Bencic’s favor, who, 10 years after the final defeat, managed to win the Pan Pacific Open title. “It’s really, really special. I had a full déjà vu moment on court because I literally had match point on the same side of the court. I went for the same serve. I was telling myself the same things. It was really a déjà vu moment. It was really special.”
“It is great to win here again. I feel like Tokyo and Japan is really like my happy place in my career, and just a place where I have good success, and I just love to be here,” the Swiss said.
Bencic exceeds expectations with two titles in comeback year
Bencic has undoubtedly been one of the stories that have marked 2025, the year of her return after taking a pause in her career for maternity. The 28-year-old Swiss was absent throughout 2024, only returning at the end of the season to play a couple of ITF tournaments to catch up on rhythm.
Quickly, at the beginning of 2025, she got to work to regain privileged positions in the WTA Ranking. After starting at No. 42, she had a great campaign to the round of 16 at Adelaide and the 4th round at the Australian Open, quickly regaining places in the ranking. The biggest blow would come barely in early February, when she lifted her 9th trophy, at the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open, after defeating Ashlyn Kruger in the final (4-6, 6-1, 6-1).
After her stint in Melbourne, Bencic was ranked No. 157, while by the end of her Abu Dhabi campaign, she had already climbed to No. 67 – and with only three tournaments played in the season, 11 wins, and only two defeats.
Bencic remained a respected name throughout the season, achieving three wins against top-10 tennis players and reaching a more than respectable 37-17 record. “I didn’t expect this, it’s beyond the expectations to have two titles already,” commented the former world No. 4. “Yeah, i’m very happy with my season, of course, i mean it’s kind of, you know, you start to have success and obviously the tennis player syndrome is that you always want more and then you kind of forget what you already achieve and you always want more, so it’s nice to reflect some time and take a step back and kind of be proud of myself as well, and i definitely am.”
Bencic finished as No. 11 in the live ranking, and will have the chance to return to the top-10 if she manages to lift the title at the WTA 250 Hong Kong Open this week – a tournament where she received a wildcard and is the first seed.
AloJapan.com