Belinda Bencic battled past Sofia Kenin 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-2 in 2 hours and 16 minutes to reach the second final of her career at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo ten years after she finished runner-up at this tournament as a 18-year-old player.
Bencic has reached the 10th final of her career and the second of the season after winning the WTA 500 title in Abu Dhabi last February.
Bencic earned three break points when she was leading 2-1, but Kenin saved all three chances, the first two with forehand winners and the third with her backhand. Both players held on their serve until the tie-break where Kenin earned a 4-2 lead. Bencic came back by winning four consecutive points to earn two set points at 6-4 and converted her second chance to seal the tie-break 7-5 in just over an hour.
Kenin earned break points in the second game of the second set, but Bencic won four consecutive points to hold serve for 1-1. Kenin saved two break points to hold serve in the third game for 2-1 before breaking serve to open up a 3-1 lead. Bencic broke back to love in the fifth game for 2-3. Kenin earned another break in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. The US player held a set point at 5-2 on Bencic’s serve, but the Swiss player held serve for 3-5. Kenin closed out the second set 6-3 with a forehand winner to force the match to third set.
Bencic broke serve in the third game to take a 3-1 lead. The Tokyo 2021 Olympic champion held on her next service games and sealed the win with a double break in the eight game with a backhand winner.
Both players were separated by just six points across the entire match.
Bencic played the longest match of the 2025 season against Yulia Starodubtseva at the WTA 500 in Ningbo before losing to Jasmine Paolini in another marathon match in the quarter final last week. The Swiss player achieved a come-back against Karolina Muchova in the quarter final in Tokyo earlier this week.
Bencic set up a final against Linda Noskova, who spent just 35 minutes on court between the quarter finals and the semifinal after Anna Kalinskaya’s retirement from the quarter final and the walkover after Elena Rybakina’s withdrawal from the semifinal due to a back injury.
“It was a very difficult match, for sure. I’m really exhausted at this point. I don’t know how I got through it. I just tried to shorten the points, take more risks and try to go for it. Thankfully, today it went my way”, said Bencic.
