Wild-card Belinda Bencic yesterday claimed her second consecutive WTA 125k title at Taipei Arena, defeating Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands to claim the OEC Taipei Open crown.
The Swiss world No. 120, who due to injury missed about five months of the WTA Tour this season, won her 10th consecutive match by defeating Rus 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 in 1 hour, 15 minutes.
Bencic, who reached a career-high seventh in the WTA rankings last season before her injury worries, failed to save the only break point she faced, but converted four of 11 to claim her second straight title after defeating Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei at the Hua Hin Championship in Thailand on Sunday last week.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
With Bencic leading 5-2, the first set looked to be heading for a quick conclusion, but the Dutch player fought back.
Bencic, frustrated at not having been able to convert three set points, was broken for the only time in the match at 5-3, before Rus held her serve the rest of the way to force a tiebreak.
However, unforced errors on Rus’ first two service games handed Bencic a 3-0 advantage and the Swiss duly wrapped up the tiebreaker 7/3.
Bencic then cruised through the second set, a costly Rus double fault bringing up match point, before the Dutch player hit a forehand into the net to hand Bencic the title.
“I want to congratulate my opponent first of all — I think she played a great week, even in doubles, and it was very tough to play [Rus] today,” Bencic said after accepting the trophy.
In the doubles final, Veronika Kudermetova of Russia defended the title she won in Taipei last year, albeit with a different partner.
Unseeded Kudermetova and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus fought back from a set down to edge third seeds Monique Adamczak of Australia and Naomi Broady of Britain 2-6, 7-6 (7/5), 10-6 in 1 hour, 22 minutes.
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