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When Bencic made her top 10 debut in 2016 – aged just 18 – she became the first teenager in the top 10 of the WTA singles rankings since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009.<\/p>\n
It wasn’t until five years later, however, that she won her first big title, beating Marketa Vondrousova in the final of the Tokyo Olympics to claim the gold medal.<\/p>\n
A few WTA Tour-level titles followed in 2022 and 2023, but her pregnancy meant she missed out on defending her Olympic gold in Paris.<\/p>\n
By the time Bencic returned from her maternity break in October 2024, she had slipped to 1,213th in the world.<\/p>\n
But less than four months later, Bencic was back to her best – reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open before winning the Abu Dhabi Open, which she celebrated with Bella in one arm and the trophy in the other.<\/p>\n
A deep run at Wimbledon in July – ended in the semi-finals by eventual champion Iga Swiatek – lifted her back into the world’s top 20, and she clinched her second title of the year at October’s Pan Pacific Open.<\/p>\n
During Wimbledon, she said: “I see myself as a mum first, and then a tennis player. My priorities are clearly with my family.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n