2nd title of 2023 🏆🏆 @BelindaBencic saves three championship points before beating Samsonova 1-6, 7-6(8), 6-4 to become the inaugural #MubadalaAbuDhabiOpen champion!
Belinda Bencic saves 3 match points against Samsonova to win 2023 Abu Dhabi Open
WTASunday, 12 February 2023 at 17:10
Belinda Bencic did it, she's the 2023 Abu Dhabi champion after she came back from a set down to win it in three, saving three match points in the process as well 1-6 7-6(8) 6-4.
It was a brutal match that lasted almost three hours but Belinda Bencic was able to get it done. The steadiest player of all in the Gulf this week, Bencic was once again able to hold a firm level long enough for her opponent to drop hers. Samsonova entered this one on fire hitting the ball as well as she can and that's usually trouble.
Bencic was unable to do much as she watched her opponent clinch the opening set 6-1. She finally found some solutions in the second set as Samsonova dropped her level a bit but the Russian had a good run at the end of the second set when she battled back from 2-5 down to make it 5-5. She then had a golden chance in the next game having 40-0 on the serve of Bencic but squandered them.
The tiebreak saw Samsonova miss out on a couple of more chances as she failed to convert three match points losing it 8-10 in the end. The final set saw Bencic open with an early break but Samsonova broke back immediately. She lost her serve once again in the next game and this time around, it was too much to overcome as Bencic finished it off 6-4.
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