Belinda Bencic withdraws from Abu Dhabi

World no. 12 Belinda Bencic withdrew from the opening WTA event of the season in Abu Dhabi, remaining in her Dubai base and preparing for the Melbourne WTA 500 event.

Abu Dhabi will host the first WTA 500 ever from January 6-13, gathering a strong field of players led by Sofia Kenin, Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova, Aryna Sabalenka and Garbine Muguruza. Fourteen top-30 players are on the entry list, and we should get exciting encounters right from the opening round.

Bencic decided to skip the Abu Dhabi trip and spend more time on the practice court, working hard on her game after a mediocre 2020 season. Belinda was the US Open semi-finalist a year ago, qualifying for the WTA Finals for the first time and reaching the semi-final. Still, the Swiss couldn't repeat that in 2020, winning only eight matches and remaining in the top-15 mainly thanks to her last year's points.

Those eight triumphs came in January and February, highlighted with the quarter-final in St. Petersburg and Doha. Following the season restart, Belinda played only one match in Rome and suffered a heavy loss to Danka Kovinic.

The Swiss decided to skip the rest of the year, switching focus on 2021 and hoping to fight for notable titles again and return in the top-10.