Belinda Bencic (WTA 45) ha scritto una bella pagina del libro della sua carriera eliminando nei quarti di finale del torneo di Dubai l'attuale numero due al mondo, la rumena Simona Halep: dopo un match molto combattuto e durato più di due ore e un quarto la svizzera si è imposta con i parziali di 4-6 6-4 6-2. In semifinale la 21enne di Flawil affronterà l'ucraina Elina Svitolina (6), vittoriosa sulla spagnola Carla Suarez Navarro (26).
La Bencic, che già ieri negli ottavi aveva eliminato una top 10 mondiale, la bielorussa Aryna Sabalenka (9), ha giocato bene fin dall'inizio, ma è riuscita ad ingranare una marcia superiore a metà del secondo set. È stato infatti al nono game della seconda frazione, con il punteggio sul 4-4, che ha piazzato un break che ha indirizzato l'incontro sui suoi binari. Nel terzo set l'elvetica ha poi rubato altre tre volte il servizio alla Halep, chiudendo i conti al terzo match ball.
%20--%3e%3csvg%20version='1.1'%20id='Layer_1'%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20xmlns:xlink='http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink'%20x='0px'%20y='0px'%20viewBox='0%200%20138.2%2048'%20style='enable-background:new%200%200%20138.2%2048;'%20xml:space='preserve'%3e%3cstyle%20type='text/css'%3e%20.st0{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:%23AF001E;}%20.st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:%23FFFFFF;}%20%3c/style%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M0,48h138V0H0V48z'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M9.3,31.7l-0.4,2.7C8.8,35,9,35.2,9.5,35.3c2,0.2,4,0.3,6.1,0.3c5.6,0,9.7-1.8,9.7-7.1c0-3.1-1.3-5.4-6-6.6%20l-2.6-0.7c-1.8-0.5-2.6-1-2.6-2.3c0-1.9,1.7-2.2,3.3-2.2c2.2,0,4.4,0.2,5.3,0.2c0.9,0.1,1.2,0,1.3-0.8l0.4-2.6c0-0.1,0-0.2,0-0.3%20c0-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.1-0.3s-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.2c-0.1,0-0.2-0.1-0.3-0.1c-2-0.2-4.1-0.3-6.1-0.3C11.8,12.4,9,14.9,9,19c0,3.6,2,5.8,5.4,6.7%20l2.6,0.7c2.1,0.6,3,1.2,3,2.5c0,2-1.3,2.3-4.6,2.3c-1.5,0-4-0.2-4.9-0.3C9.6,30.9,9.4,31,9.3,31.7'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M36.4,23.6l-0.3,1.5C36,25.4,36,25.6,36,25.9c0,0.4,0.1,0.8,0.4,1.1l4.2,7.6c0.1,0.3,0.3,0.5,0.6,0.7%20c0.3,0.2,0.6,0.2,0.9,0.2h3.8c0.5,0,1.1-0.3,0.5-1.2l-5.1-8.6c1.7-1.1,3.6-2.6,3.6-6.1c0-4.4-2.5-6.9-7.9-6.9h-7.8%20c-0.7,0-0.9,0.2-0.9,1v20.8c0,0.7,0.2,1,0.9,1h3.2c0.7,0,0.9-0.2,0.9-1V16.8h3.3c2.1,0,3.1,0.8,3.1,2.8c0.1,0.6,0,1.2-0.3,1.6%20c-0.3,0.5-0.7,0.9-1.3,1.1C37.1,22.7,36.8,22.3,36.4,23.6z'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M66.1,34V22.7c0-0.7-0.2-1-0.9-1h-5.8c-0.7,0-0.9,0.2-0.9,1v2.5c0,0.7,0.2,0.9,0.9,0.9h1.7v5%20c-0.6,0.1-1.1,0.1-1.7,0.1c-4.8,0-6-3.1-6-7.4c0-5.4,2-6.8,6.5-6.8c1.3,0,3.1,0.1,4.1,0.2c1,0.1,1.2,0,1.3-0.8l0.4-2.5%20c0.1-0.7,0-1-0.8-1.1c-1.8-0.2-3.6-0.3-5.4-0.2c-8.2,0-11.6,4.3-11.6,11.3s2.7,11.9,11.3,11.9c2,0.1,4,0,6-0.4%20C65.9,35.2,66.2,34.9,66.1,34'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M74.9,31.7l-0.4,2.7c-0.1,0.5,0.2,0.7,0.6,0.8c2,0.2,4,0.3,6.1,0.3c5.6,0,9.7-1.8,9.7-7.1c0-3.1-1.3-5.4-6-6.6%20l-2.6-0.7c-1.8-0.5-2.6-1-2.6-2.3c0-1.9,1.7-2.2,3.3-2.2c2.2,0,4.4,0.2,5.3,0.2c0.9,0.1,1.2,0,1.3-0.8l0.4-2.6c0-0.1,0-0.2,0-0.3%20c0-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.1-0.3s-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.2c-0.1,0-0.2-0.1-0.3-0.1c-2-0.2-4.1-0.3-6.1-0.3c-5.8,0-8.6,2.6-8.6,6.6%20c0,3.6,2,5.8,5.4,6.7l2.6,0.7c2.1,0.6,3,1.2,3,2.6c0,2-1.3,2.3-4.6,2.3c-1.5,0-4-0.2-4.9-0.3C75.3,30.8,75,30.9,74.9,31.7'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M93.1,31.7l-0.4,2.7c-0.1,0.5,0.2,0.7,0.6,0.8c2,0.2,4,0.3,6.1,0.3c5.6,0,9.7-1.8,9.7-7.1c0-3.1-1.3-5.4-6-6.6%20l-2.6-0.7c-1.8-0.5-2.6-1-2.6-2.3c0-1.9,1.7-2.2,3.3-2.2c2.2,0,4.4,0.2,5.3,0.2c0.9,0.1,1.2,0,1.3-0.8l0.4-2.6c0-0.1,0-0.2,0-0.3%20c0-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.1-0.3c-0.1-0.1-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.2c-0.1,0-0.2-0.1-0.3-0.1c-2-0.2-4.1-0.3-6.1-0.3c-5.8,0-8.6,2.6-8.6,6.6%20c0,3.6,2,5.8,5.4,6.7l2.6,0.7c2.1,0.6,3,1.2,3,2.6c0,2-1.3,2.3-4.6,2.3c-1.5,0-4-0.2-4.9-0.3S93.1,30.9,93.1,31.7'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M120.2,23.6l-0.3,1.5c-0.1,0.3-0.1,0.5-0.1,0.8c0,0.4,0.1,0.8,0.3,1.1l4.2,7.6c0.1,0.3,0.3,0.5,0.6,0.7%20c0.3,0.2,0.6,0.2,0.9,0.2h3.8c0.5,0,1.1-0.3,0.5-1.2l-5.1-8.6c1.7-1.1,3.7-2.7,3.7-6.1c0-4.4-2.5-6.9-7.9-6.9H113%20c-0.7,0-0.9,0.2-0.9,1v20.8c0,0.7,0.2,1,0.9,1h3.2c0.7,0,0.9-0.2,0.9-1V16.8h3.3c2.1,0,3.1,0.8,3.1,2.8c0.1,0.6,0,1.2-0.3,1.6%20c-0.3,0.5-0.7,0.9-1.3,1.1C120.9,22.7,120.6,22.3,120.2,23.6'/%3e%3c/svg%3e)