Bencic takes on Rybakina in Abu Dhabi semi-final

Belinda Bencic scored her biggest victory since her return to competition by beating Elena Rybakina (3-6, 6-3, 6-4) in the semi-finals of the Abu Dhabi tournament.

Dominated in the first set, the Swiss player managed to reverse the trend in the next two sets by showing herself to be more enterprising and aggressive in the exchanges.

Despite a scare at 5-2, when she missed two match points, Bencic kept her nerve to serve again for the match at 5-4 and win after a final unforced error from Rybakina.

Tomorrow, Bencic will attempt to clinch the title against Ashlyn Krueger, who won the first semi-final earlier in the day against Linda Noskova (7-6, 6-4).