Bencic announces return to Top 10 level with Dubai run—"I'm back"

Belinda Bencic is announcing that she's "back" with her run to the final in Dubai.

The 21-year-old from Switzerland has scored three-set wins against three Top 10 opponents—Aryna Sabalenka, Simona Halep and defending champion Elina Svitolina—and now plays Petra Kvitova in the final.

The former No. 7 has had a long recovery from wrist surgery in 2017, but says she is now approaching her best tennis again.

"I'm back. I knew it was still in me," she told press at Dubai following her victory against Halep. "You cannot just come back like this and play.

"Players are playing two, three years constantly on the level, they're playing semifinals, finals. You cannot just expect to be back.

"I had to work my way back. I knew it was in me, but I'm happy that I could finally show it."

Bencic shot to attention as a teenager in 2015, winning her first title at Eastbourne and defeating four top 10 players on her way to the title at Toronto. But injuries began to set in in 2016 and she had to have surgery in 2017, dropping below the top 100 and returning to the ITF Pro Circuit.

But she doesn't describe it as frustrating, saying it gave her some time away from the limelight.

"I mean, I'm not a person who needs attention all the time," Bencic said. "I had no problem with being in the shadow. Actually it felt really good, playing 25Ks where there is no one there, just you. You can play very free. It felt good.

"I didn't even take the protected ranking. I started in the lower tournaments. I tried to build my confidence up."

Still, Bencic is pleased to be back playing against the top players on big courts. And now, she's hoping to use her previous experience to stay there even as other younger players have wild swings in form.

"It's definitely not something new. I think everybody needs to go through this period," said Bencic. "I went through it a little bit earlier, which I think is an advantage."

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