Abu Dhabi Open Final Preview: Belinda Bencic's experience vs Ashlyn Krueger's breakthrough
WTA
Belinda Bencic and Ashlyn Krueger will face off in an unexpected final for the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open title after the Swiss player knocked out top seed Elena Rybakina in a tight three-set battle, while the American defeated young star Linda Noskova in straight sets.
The tournament featured several former Grand Slam champions, including Emma Raducanu, Marketa Vondrousova, Sofia Kenin, and Jelena Ostapenko, along with other high-profile names such as Ons Jabeur, Paula Badosa, Leylah Fernandez, and Rybakina herself. However, Krueger and Bencic earned their places in their first final of the year.
Bencic's experience vs Krueger's breakthrough
For the 20-year-old American, this will be her second WTA Tour final, following her only title at the Japan Open. This time, it will be her first WTA 500 final, with the chance to break into the world's top 32 and secure a seeded spot for major tournaments like Indian Wells, the Miami Open, and Grand Slams.
Krueger has been dominant this week, securing wins over players like 3rd seed Daria Kasatkina and 8th seed Leylah Fernandez. Her serve has been one of her biggest weapons, a key strength for the 6'1" (1.85m) player.
On the other side of the net, she will face an experienced opponent in Bencic, who is currently ranked No. 157 after taking a year-long maternity break in April last year. The Tokyo 2021 Olympic gold medallist was outside the top 1,000 just three months ago, with a low of No. 1,447 back in September.
However, after competing in some lower-tier events at the end of 2024, Bencic has started the 2025 season strongly, boasting a 10-2 record across just three WTA-level tournaments since her return. She has claimed victories over top opponents, including Naomi Osaka, Jelena Ostapenko, and Rybakina in the Abu Dhabi semifinals—her first win over a top-5 player in more than two years.
Bencic has already secured her return to the top 100 and will be looking to defend the title she won in 2023. This will be her 18th professional final, with eight titles so far, including two WTA 1000 and five WTA 500 trophies.
Krueger and Bencic have never played each other before, but the Swiss player’s experience could be a key factor against a Krueger who will likely be playing the biggest match of her young career.
From Wild Card to Finalist 👏@BelindaBencic battles it out and defeats the defending champion 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.#MubadalaAbuDhabiOpen pic.twitter.com/dpGZzLqT8D
— wta (@WTA) February 7, 2025
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- Bencic is all business right now. If Rybakina is the ice queen, then Bencic is Antarctica—colder, sharper, and seemingly unstoppable. 🔥❄️MrAndreeva07-02-2025
- Creepy.
mandoist07-02-2025 - Ouch!!mandoist07-02-2025
- they need to change the rules on the WTA to limit wildcards more effectively like they have on the ATPSososo06-02-2025
- This is just getting beyond ridiculous!! Not to mention unsportsmanlike and unfair to serious up & coming contenders.mandoist06-02-2025
- No, writer, we were not "stunned". If you knew your business you would have been aware of her statement last weekend re: her knee and retirement. The main take-away here is that Simona went out on her own terms. She surely wanted to play again after WTA & ITIA screwed her out of her final productive seasons. Personally, I believed she was going to make this announcement when I saw the President and his family in their box seats. Good for Simone -- now she can move on to other things as she said she would.mandoist04-02-2025
- It sounds seriously absurd that in Davis Cup, (unlike Grand Slams such as the Aus Open), medical time outs off court with the medical staff are not allowed?? I mean, if this was an Aus Open match, and the same thing happened to Gurin then, he would have been able to go off court for official medical time out and make an informed decision whether to resume the match or retire. How come such conditions do not apply in Davis Cup?? I mean, there with Davis Cup, it is even more like a soccer match or basketball game in that teams are playing. And so as with those, it ought to be the case in tennis that if a player needs serious medical time out, then one of the other team mates ought to substitute and each team needs to have stand-ins or understudies in case substitution is needed which will be rare but as we can see here, this kind of circumstance fits. But even if the teams do not go down the road of subbing other team mates in, in case of a health issue like the one which played out here, at least, as in the Aus Open and other Grand Slams, there ought to be time-outs with the health professionals and at the conclusion of these time-outs, the particular decision that has been reached between them and the player needs to be taken on board by the umpire. PERIOD.
Sueiyin04-02-2025 - "If Novak did this, he would be defaulted for life. WTF." 🤣 WTF sounds like What Tennis Fury?! What Tennis Flurry??! I mean, se-rious-ly, it was actually the unfairness of the silly umpire's decision that is the issue here! Further, how come it was Gurin & his team who got disqualified? If this kind of thing happens in soccer, it would be the other guy getting the yellow or red card! Because after all, it was the Belgian who's foul it was so why then penalize the opponents for something they didn't instigate? Fouls in both basketball and soccer are read as a hinderance that has been caused by the player who INITIALLY instigated the hinderance. In this case, okay, it is tennis, but while the precise rules are different to either soccer or basketball, the same type of recognition as to whoever instigates a hinderance should apply, and in this case, it was the Belgian player.Sueiyin04-02-2025
- Medvedev talking to his form here. "Some actual deep problem." 🤣😂🤣MrAndreeva03-02-2025
- "Hopefully, the team around her will help... " Actually, the lack thereof seems to have been part of the problem(s). Another possibility is that, while dealing with legitimate surgeries, withdrawing, and otherwise passing on events, the competition has stepped-up in intensity while she was busy with traveling, photo shoots, and TV commercials.mandoist03-02-2025
