DUBAI, UAE – The stage was set for a perfect storm at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships tournament, where Belinda Bencic (SUI) faced and defeated No. 3 seed Petra Kvitova (CZE) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. The win marks Bencic’s first major tour level championship since 2015 as her WTA ranking improves to World No. 23, as of Monday, February 25th.
“Of course, I'm extremely happy. I've been playing great the whole week so I'm really proud of that.” Bencic explained. “I'm proud of how I managed to play the final. I didn't get too nervous in the end, which was great.”
Underlining the Swiss’ impressive play, she earned the title by defeating four top-10 players on her path to victory. At one point during the tournament, she even rallied from a third set, 3-5 deficit to end two-time defending champion Elina Svitolina's (UKR)12-match winning streak.
Radu Albot (MDA) became the first Moldovan athlete to win an ATP Tour level title during a historic win at the Delray Beach Open tournament. In a dramatic battle of nerves, Albot defeated fellow ATP tour final first timer, Dan Evans (GBR) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(7).
“This means a lot, being the first guy who has ever won an ATP Tour title from Moldova.” Albot emotionally described. “It’s a big thing. Nobody is playing professional tennis from my country at the moment. Nobody has an ATP Ranking point.”
In an equally impressive feat, Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) won a second title in two weeks as he captured the Rio Open Men’s Doubles Championship to accompany his Argentina men’s Double title from the week prior.
Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) took second for women’s Singles at the Hungarian Open tournament and Eri Hozumi (JPN) found success at the Shimadzu All Japan Indoor Tennis Championships as she and her partner won the women’s doubles title in straight sets.
The year is just beginning, but it seems #TeamYonex is already off to an impressive start.
Player Equipment:
Belinda Bencic: EZONE 100, POLYTOUR PRO 125
Radu Albot: VCORE 98, ECLIPSION 2, TOURNAMENT APPAREL
Maximo Gonzalez: VCORE 98, POLYTOUR PRO 130
Marketa Vondrousova: EZONE 100, POLYTOUR AIR 125
Eri Hozumi: VCORE 100, POLYTOUR STRIKE 125
Related links:
EZONE : http://yonex.com/tennis/ezoneunleashed/
VCORE : https://vcore.yonex.com/