Second seed Belinda Bencic begins her Abu Dhabi Open campaign on Wednesday in the round of 16 against Marta Kostyuk.
The Swiss star has had a fine start to the season. At the United Cup, her only loss came against world No. 1 Iga Swiatek. She went on to win the Adelaide International 1 by defeating Garbine Muguruza, Anna Kalinskaya, Caroline Garcia, and Daria Kasatkina.
In the Australian Open, Bencic was the 12th-seeded player. She made it to the fourth round for the second time at the event and the first time since 2016. During the campaign, Bencic defeated Viktoriya Tomova, Claire Liu, and Camila Giorgi before losing to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka.
The 20-year-old had a good start to the season as she reached the quarterfinals of the Adelaide International 1 after progressing from the qualifiers. She defeated Cristina Bucsa, Mayar Sherif, Jaimee Fourlis, and Elena Rybakina before going down to top seed Ons Jabeur. Kostyuk lost in the first round of qualifying at the Adelaide International 2.
Kostyuk made it to the third round of the Australian Open for the second consecutive year after beating Amanda Anisimova and Olivia Gadecki convincingly. She lost to third seed Jessica Pegula in the third round. Kostyuk followed it up with a run to the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open. In the first round of the Abu Dhabi Open, the Ukrainian star defeated Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.
The two players have faced each other only once so far. Bencic defeated Kostyuk in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 in the 2021 Miami Open.
Prediction: Belinda Bencic to win in three sets.
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