Belinda Bencic hangs on by a thread to maintain 2023 form; Wu Yibing, Arthur Fils bring major forehands

There will be better and higher-profile finals in 2023, but for sheer, uncompromising, toe-to-toe baseline warfare, the final two sets of Belinda Bencic’s 1-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4 win over Liudmila Samsonova in Sunday’s Abu Dhabi final will be hard to top.

Samsonova was 3-0 against Bencic, and 4-0 in her four previous finals, and she was the more aggressive and powerful player throughout this match. But she also more erratic. The Russian would finish with 20 more winners than Bencic, while Bencic would finish with 19 fewer errors. We often hear that tennis matches are won by the player who makes fewer mistakes, rather than the one who hits more amazing shots. It was true again—if only just—on this day.

Samsonova won her points when she was able to find an angle and an open court for her forehand. When she connected from that side, there was little her opponent could do to counter her, and the rifle-shot winners flew at will. Bencic won her points when she could steer the rallies straight down the middle of the court, make them last as long as possible, and deny Samsonova an angle. Samsonova’s forehand is one of the most lethal shots in women’s tennis, but she can be goaded into going for too much from a neutral position

Bencic, one of the WTA’s best counter-punchers, goaded her just enough, and at just the right moments. She spent much of this match hanging on for dear life, but she never let go. At 5-5 in the second set, with Samsonova holding all the momentum, Bencic saved break points to stay in front. In the tiebreaker, she saved three match points, one of them in a long, edge-of-your-seat rally. After breaking early in the third, Bencic hung on again through the final three holds.

“I just really tried hanging in there, and scramble for every point, and just do my best,” Bencic said.

The Swiss, with new coach Dmitry Tursunov, has been at her best for most of 2023. She won a title in Adelaide, and looked like she might do the same at the Australian Open if she hadn’t run into eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round. She’s No. 9 now, but she’s playing Top 5 tennis. We’ve already seen one first-time Grand Slam winner on the women’s side in 2023. Is it time to start wondering if Bencic could be the second?

I just really tried hanging in there, and scramble for every point, and just do my best. —Belinda Bencic

Every couple of months brings us a new face on the men’s tour. Last spring it was Carlos Alcaraz. Last fall it was Holger Rune. At the Australian Open it was Ben Shelton and Jiri Lehecka. This weekend we got two more: 18-year-old Arthur Fils of France, who thrilled the home folks by reaching the semifinals in Montpellier; and 23-year-old Wu Yibing, who awed the fans in Dallas by beating Denis Shapovalov, Taylor Fritz, and John Isner to become the first Chinese man to win a title in the Open era. Yes, the entire, 55-year Open era.

Fils and Wu come from very different places and tennis traditions, and each should be equally welcome to fans around the world. With France’s Musketeer generation retiring one by one by one, it has been hard to know who would keep that nation’s storied tennis tradition alive on the men’s side. Fils, a runner-up in the Roland Garros boys’ event two years ago, appears to have the mix of athleticism and passion that we historically refer to as “French flair.” Wu, by contrast, would be a pioneer in his country, in the way that Li Na was a decade ago. His rise has been slowed by injury, but as anyone could see during his tightrope-wire wins over Fritz and Isner, he’s already one of the most exciting ball-strikers in tennis, and he’s not afraid of a stage, or a crowd, or a higher-ranked opponent.

What Fils and Wu have in common so far is the forehand. Each looks like he could take the next evolutionary step with that shot. Fils takes a full throttle cut at the ball, and combines maximum power with maximum spin. Wu's forehand is all about timing and balance. He sets up flawlessly, catches the ball early and on the rise, and can hammer it for winners to either corner.

New faces for a new year, showing us new ways to hit the ball. Men’s tennis doesn’t change much at the top of the charts, but there’s a lot bubbling under at the moment.