Belinda Bencic +432 in WTA Rankings as comeback gathers pace after becoming a mother
Belinda Bencic was ranked outside the top 1200 in the WTA Rankings just over a month ago, but now she finds herself inside the top 500 after another excellent week at the WTA 125 event in Angers, France.
Former world No 4 Bencic welcomed her first child, a daughter named Bella, in April this year and just over six months later she returned to tennis as she competed in an ITF event in Germany.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medallist was ranked at No 1213 when she played her first competitive match in October, but a couple of wins in the events below the WTA Tour helped her to rise to No 902 at the start of December.
She also represented Switzerland in the Billie Jean King Cup playoffs against Serbia, winning one singles match and a doubles clash in a 4-0 victory.
Bencic admitted that she didn’t expect her return to go this smoothly, stating: “It all happened faster than I could have expected.
“I didn’t set any dates or time limits at first, I really didn’t want to put any pressure on myself and I didn’t know what could happen.
“All I thought about was the birth of my daughter and how I would feel after everything. People kept asking me about my return, but I was never able to give them much information.”
But the comeback went up another level or two at the Open in Arte Angers Loire last week as she reached the final before losing 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-0 to Alycia Parks.
Her reward is another 432-place rise in the rankings as she now sits at No 481 – and the only way is up from here.
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American Parks moved up 19 places as she returned to the top 100, sitting at No 84 after winning her third WTA 125 title of the year.
Bencic, who also finished runner-up in the doubles in Angers, could be set for a further rise in the rankings as she will be back in action at the WTA 125 Open de Limoges this week.
The eight-time WTA Tour singles title winner has already been confirmed for next year’s Australian Open as she used her special ranking to enter the season-opening Grand Slam at Melbourne Park.
As for the rest of the top 20 in the WTA Rankings, it will remain unchanged until the new year with the big stars taking a break ahead of the 2025 season.
Aryna Sabalenka finished as the year-end No 1 and she is followed by Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini, Zheng Qinwen, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro, Daria Kasatkina and Barbora Krejcikova.
