Belinda Bencic defeats Samsonova to win her second title of the year in Abu Dhabi

Olympic Champion Belinda Bencic defeated Liudmila Samsonova 1-6 7-6(8) 6-4 to win her second title of the year and become the inaugural Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open champion.

Bencic recovered from a set down and saved three championship points in the second set tiebreak to overcome Samsonova for the first time in her career.

It is the Swiss eighth WTA title and the first year since 2019 that she has won multiple titles in a season.

Samsonova rolled over the Olympic Champion in the first set, conveniently winning it 6-1.

In a crazy but fantastic second set, Bencic let a 5-2 lead slip, held from 0-40 for a 6-5 lead, which eventually ended in a tiebreak. She saved three championship points and won the set 7-6(8), leading to the deciding third set to determine the winner.

The deciding set saw Bencic taking control of the game against Samsonova, winning 6-4 to secure her second WTA title of the year.

"It was a very tight match today. I want to congratulate Liudmila as well and her team, she's played amazing and it was great battle today. I'm happy to finally beat you, after last year I lost three times.

"Of course I want to thank my team, thank you for being with me everyday and pushing me, and I'm really motivated and excited for what's to come. So thanks a lot," Bencic in her on-court interview.

Her victory sees her third in the WTA Race behind newly crowned Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka and Wimbledon Champion Elena Rybakina.