HUA HIN, Thailand - Former Top 10 player Belinda Bencic took a big step on the road back to her best, winning the WTA 125K title at the EA Hua Hin Championship over Hsieh Su-wei on Sunday, 6-3, 6-4.
In just the fourth tournament of her comeback after being sidelined for five months, the 20-year-old Swiss won her second title, having also won the ITF $100,000 event in Saint Petersburg, Russia to kickstart her return in September.
The former World No.7 dropped just one set all week - the opener in the quarterfinals against Vitalia Diatchenko before winning in three - and defeated No.6 seed Ana Bogdan and No.4 seed Hsieh in the last two rounds to win the title.
She's posted an 18-3 record in five singles tournaments thus far, including a quarterfinal at WTA level at the Upper Austria Ladies' Linz.
In doubles, Duan Ying-ying continued her stellar form of the late season with a second straight trophy, this one coming alongside Wang Yafan.
The all-Chinese duo beat three seeded teams over the course of the week, including top seeds Veronika Kudermetova and Ipek Soylu in the semifinals and No.3 seeds Dalila Jakupovic and Irina Khromacheva in the final, 6-3, 6-3.
