Belinda Bencic (WTA 45) avrà l'occasione di diventare la seconda svizzera a conquistare il trofeo di Dubai dopo Martina Hingis nel 2001. Sotto gli occhi di Roger Federer (settimana prossima impegnato sullo stesso campo), la sangallese ha sfoderato una prestazione di alto livello, che le ha permesso di battere la terza top 10 in tre giorni e di qualificarsi per la finalissima grazie al successo per 6-2 3-6 7-6 (7/3) in 1h58' su Elina Svitolina (6), trionfatrice negli Emirati Arabi nelle due ultime edizioni del torneo.
Nel primo set non c'è stata storia con una Bencic strepitosa da fondo e al servizio. Trovato il break in apertura di secondo parziale, la 21enne di Flawil ha però perso il filo del discorso (soprattutto alla battuta) e la regina delle WTA Finals 2018 ne ha subito approfittato per rinviare il verdetto al terzo, in cui il match è divenuto equilibrato e molto avvincente. Sotto di un break sul 5-3, la rossocrociata ha infilato una serie impressionante di punti che ha rimesso in piedi l'incontro. Dopo aver mancato 3 match point sul servizio dell'ucraina, Belinda si è infine guadagnata il diritto di affrontare Petra Kvitova (4) per il titolo (in diretta su LA2 e in streaming sabato alle 16h00) con un tie-break molto solido.
WTA Dubai, il servizio su Bencic - Svitolina (Sportsera 22.02.2019)
RSI Tennis 22.02.2019, 22:11
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