Belinda Bencic vs Marketa Vondrousova Tips, Prediction & Live Stream - Bencic backed to reach Abu Dhabi semis

Bencic emerged triumphant with the gold medal on that occasion and I'm backing the Swiss to double down and reach the semi-finals in Abu Dhabi here. Bencic has put together an impressive start to the season, winning nine of her 12 matches, while Vondrousova basically started her year this week after pulling out of the Australian Open with injury. Bencic has won two of the three previous meetings, with two of those matches going the distance. The extra mileage in Bencic's legs might just prove the difference in what is expected to be a close encounter.

Bencic leads 2-1, with all three tour-level matches coming on hardcourt in 2021 - including that Tokyo Olympics final, which the Swiss won 7-5 2-6 6-3.

It's been an excellent start to the season for Bencic, who returned to the game from maternity leave late last year and has wasted no time in swiftly climbing back up the rankings.

After ending 2024 at 913 in the world, Bencic is already up to a live ranking of No. 126 courtesy of her brilliant last couple of months.

Bencic has registered a 9-3 record to begin 2025, making the R16 in Adelaide and the fourth round of the Australian Open, where she was close to knocking out Coco Gauff.

The Swiss has continued her great form in Abu Dhabi this week, edging out Rebecca Sramkova in three sets before producing a crushing performance to dismantle Veronika Kudermetova 6-0 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals.

Vondrousova has repeatedly battled with injury problems since winning the Wimbledon title in 2023 and didn't play for the remainder of 2024 after her title defence at the All England Club ended in Round 1.

The Czech attempted to return down under, but was forced to retire in Adelaide and subsequently withdraw from the Australian Open.

Rested and recovered, Vondrousova is back in Abu Dhabi and the Czech is looking dangerous, defeating Emma Raducanu and Yulia Putintseva in straight sets.

Vondrousova has gone 1-5 in quarter-finals since that Wimbledon victory in 2023.