Swiss teen Belinda Bencic outlasted Simona Halep to win Sunday’s WTA Canadian Open final when the Romanian second seed retired trailing 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (4/7), 3-0.
Bencic, who upset world No 1 Serena Williams in the semi-finals, broke twice to open the third set before the effort of battling in extreme heat and humidity proved more than Halep could take.
The Swiss 18-year-old has won 21 of her last 25 matches and defeated four top-10 foes this week, improving to 6-1 this year against such high-ranked rivals.
“I don’t think I’m so good at speeches yet,” Bencic said. “But first I want to congratulate Simona on a great week, and my mom, my dad and my team.
“Even if I lost today it would’ve been an amazing experience.”
It was the second career WTA crown for Bencic, whose first came in June at Eastbourne, and it capped an impressive week in which she defeated six grand slam finalists – Eugenie Bouchard, Caroline Wozniacki, Sabine Lisicki, Ana Ivanovic, Halep and Williams, winner of the past four grand slam events in a row.
Bencic will jump to 12th in the world rankings after starting the week 20th, improving her position for the US Open, the year’s final grand slam event that starts August 31 in New York.
Halep and Bencic exchanged breaks over the first five games of the match before Bencic held for a 4-2 edge.
The 18-year-old double faulted to surrender an equalising break in the eighth game as the two battled into the tie-breaker.
Halep, who had her left leg treated in the final changeover before the tie-breaker, seized a 4-1 lead but Bencic fought back to win six of the last seven points to claim the first set, the last when Halep netted a forehand.
After an early exchange of breaks in the second set, Bencic broke for a 4-2 lead and Halep, taking treatment for the extreme heat at humidity, seemed near the end.
But she broke back to 4-3 and answered when Bencic broke for a 5-3 edge, breaking back again at love when the Swiss was serving for the match to pull within 5-4.
Halep held and broke again for a 6-5 lead and then it was her turn to serve for the set, but Bencic broke back to force the second tie-breaker.
Winning six points of seven, Halep seized a 6-2 edge and rallied from a weak stretch for the third match in a row to level matters.
But Halep, who beat Bencic in straight sets at Wimbledon a year ago in their only prior meeting, did not have a second wind and Bencic dominated her twice in service games before Halep called it quits, only her fourth loss in 32 hardcourt starts in 2015.
“Sorry I couldn’t finish, I fought as hard as I could,” Halep said.
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
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Profile of Bitex UAE
Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
Book%20Details
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Dubai World Cup prize money
Group 1 (Purebred Arabian) 2000m Dubai Kahayla Classic - $750,000
Group 2 1,600m(Dirt) Godolphin Mile - $750,000
Group 2 3,200m (Turf) Dubai Gold Cup – $750,000
Group 1 1,200m (Turf) Al Quoz Sprint – $1,000,000
Group 2 1,900m(Dirt) UAE Derby – $750,000
Group 1 1,200m (Dirt) Dubai Golden Shaheen – $1,500,000
Group 1 1,800m (Turf) Dubai Turf – $4,000,000
Group 1 2,410m (Turf) Dubai Sheema Classic – $5,000,000
Group 1 2,000m (Dirt) Dubai World Cup– $12,000,000
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
