Dramatic early finish Bencic - Bertens: "Not the way I wanted to win"

"I had some problems with my stomach," Bertens revealed afterwards. "The energy was not there. A little bit dizzy. Just too much to continue... I think I gave absolutely everything this year and this week. I'm proud of that. Like five weeks ago, I said to myself, You're completely dead. I guess now I'm almost there."

"Maybe her gas just really ran out," Bencic commented afterwards. "It was a bit unfortunate. Obviously not the way I wanted to win, but super proud of how I fought in that set. I was thinking maybe she wins the first set, maybe different story. I think after I lost the first match here, I just wanted to keep fighting, and you never know. There's people that made it to the semifinal when they won just one match. I was always thinking of those positives. I think everyone is exhausted and injured, all of that. I think now it's all about the mental strength to go through all of this."

Bencic changed up her tactics, trying to get a grip on the Bertens' first serve. She started to return the ball better and mixed that up with net-approaches: "I needed to do that," recalled Bencic. "I had no choice because she was really slowing down the pace. Especially on this court - it's good for her and players like her with the slices and with the off-pace shots. I definitely tried to force that and make her more under pressure, go through it, make my shots faster."

The tactical adjustment worked, as did increased sharpness on big points. The Dubai and Moscow champion won each of the last four games of the set from 3-5 down, with Bertens making key errors on desperate dropshot attempts, while Bencic' backhand and drive volleys were dripping with confidence.

Bertens took a medical time-out, but it was soon clear that she couldn't carry on, sending WTA Finals debutante Bencic through to face Purple Group winner Svitolina in the last four.

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