Tokyo Open: Bencic wins her 10th pro trophy where she was once an Olympic champion
Belinda Bencic won the final on Sunday night against Linda Noskova
Belinda Bencic, Tokyo 2025 | © Zuma / PsNewz
Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic clinched her 10 th career title on Sunday with a commanding 6-2, 6-3 victory over Czech sixth-seed Linda Noskova in the final of the 2025 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
Bencic’s triumph came exactly a decade after she fell short in the same event, when she lost in the 2015 final to Agnieszka Radwanska, and signalled a strong resurgence after her return to tour-action following maternity leave in 2023.
Seeded fifth here and ranked 13th in the world, Bencic wasted little time in the showdown at Tokyo’s Ariake Coliseum. She broke Noskova early in each set, sailed through in just 1 hour and 22 minutes, and imposed her experience throughout.
“The last time I won here was the Tokyo Olympics when it was an empty stadium … so it was a completely different atmosphere,” Bencic remarked, referencing her gold-medal success in Tokyo in 2021. “I love to play in Japan, so I’m super happy to finally win this tournament.”
Bencic far from straightforward
Her pathway to the title, however, was far from straightforward. In the quarter-finals she edged past Karolina Muchova in three sets, saving match point, and then followed that with a three-set win over Sofia Kenin 7–6(5), 3–6, 6–2 in the semis.
The long matches contrasted sharply with Noskova’s wipe-out route to the final, where the 20-year-old played only 35 minutes across her quarter- and semi-finals, advancing via a retirement and a walk-over.
“I feel very old to hear that I’m in the final again after 10 years,” Bencic had said after reaching the decider. “It’s been a tough battle out there … but I’m really excited to play the final.”
The win marks her second title of the season, following her February triumph in Abu Dhabi, and restores Bencic to the cusp of the world’s top 10, with Monday’s rankings projecting her at No. 11. Plus she’s got a wild-card to play Hong Kong this week, where she will be seed No. 1.
For Noskova, the defeat is a disappointment, but she remains one of the game’s rising stars. “Today was not my day,” she said. “But congratulations to Belinda. She played incredible this week and today.” Noskova lost to 5 of the 6 pro finals she played, including Beijing last week against Anisimova.
