Bencic crushes Kudermetova without losing a game in Abu Dhabi

First match of the day at the WTA 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi. Invited by the organizers, Belinda Bencic aims to continue her climb up the rankings.

The Swiss was up against lucky loser Veronika Kudermetova for a place in the quarter-finals. After a first-round win over Rebecca Sramkova (6-2, 3-6, 6-1), the former world number 4 made no bones about it this time.

In barely an hour of play, the 2021 Tokyo Olympic gold medallist eliminated her Russian opponent without conceding a single game (6-0, 6-0).

Highly effective on her opponent's service game (6 breaks), Bencic didn't have a single break point to save, however, and calmly qualified for the quarters, where she will meet Marketa Vondrousova or Yulia Putintseva.

This is the first time since her return from pregnancy that Bencic has reached the quarter-finals of a main-court tournament.

She will be ranked at least 126th in the world next Monday when the WTA rankings are published, and is close to returning to the top 100 just a few months after resuming competition.