Belinda Bencic: Swiss player returns to top 10 for first time after giving birth
When Bencic broke into the top 10 for the first time in 2016, at just 18 years old, she became the first teenager to reach the top 10 in the WTA singles rankings since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009.
However, it wasn’t until five years later that she won her first major title, beating Markita Vondrousova to the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics final.
She then won a handful of WTA Tour-level titles in 2022 and 2023, but her pregnancy meant she missed the chance to defend her Olympic gold in Paris.
When Bencic returned from maternity leave in October 2024, her world ranking had slipped to No. 1,213.
But less than four months later, Bencic was back to her best, reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open and then winning the Abu Dhabi Open, celebrating with Bella on one arm and the trophy in the other.
A strong run at Wimbledon in July, culminating in a semifinal defeat by eventual champion Iga Swiatek, propelled her back into the world’s top 20 and led to her second title of the year at the Pan Pacific Open in October.
During Wimbledon, she said: “I see myself as a mother first and a tennis player second. My priority is obviously my family.”
