Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open: Bencic beats Haddad Maia to reach final

The Swiss will play the winner of the match between Chinese Qinwen Zheng and Russian Liudmila Samsonova, the No 8 seed, in the final

Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia – January 17, 2023 Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic celebrates winning her first round match against Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova (AI/Reuters/Panoramic)

Haresh Ramchandani

February 11, 2023

Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open •Semi-final • completed

See draw

B. Haddad MaiavsB. Bencic

Second seed Belinda Bencic, of Switzerland, advanced to the final of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open by defeating Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, the No 6 seed, 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday.

Ahead of her semi-final win, the Swiss won against Ukrainian wildcard Marta Kostyuk (6-4, 7-5) and American qualifier Shelby Rogers (7-6 (5), 6-2).

Bencic 👏 Means 👏 Business 👏@BelindaBencic sprints past Haddad Maia 6-2, 6-3 for her second final of 2023!@MubadalaADOpen | #MubadalaAbuDhabiOpen pic.twitter.com/ZnN8Mr1WrB
— wta (@WTA) February 11, 2023

Bencic, who has been working with Dmitry Tursunov since the end of 2022, has now won 11 matches in 2023, the most alongside Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka. She will be gunning for her second title of the year on Sunday, after winning in Adelaide in January.

"The work we're putting in on the practice court is showing already. I didn't expect it to go so fast, but that doesn't mean we have to slow down."@BelindaBencic | #MubadalaAbuDhabiOpen pic.twitter.com/h4vh1AgSJB
— wta (@WTA) February 11, 2023

Haddad Maia, ranked No 14, beat Czech Marie Bouzkova (4-6, 6-3, 6-0), Kazakh qualifier Yulia Putintseva (6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4)) and Kazakh Elena Rybakina, the No 3 seed (3-6, 6-3, 6-2) in the previous rounds.

Bencic, ranked No 9, will play the winner of the match between Chinese Qinwen Zheng and Russian Liudmila Samsonova, the No 8 seed, next.