Belinda Bencic let out a sigh of relief after stopping last year's runner-up Sofia Kenin, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2, and marching into her second Pan Pacific Open final. The fifth seed, who struck 10 aces over the span of two hours and 15 minutes, would be thankful that the match did not witness any further complications in the final few games.
This has been an exhausting week for the Swiss player who had to battle for over three hours in order to get rid of world No. 21 Karolina Muchova, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, in the quarterfinals. It was a close call against the Czech, who earned a set and 5-3 lead at one point and went on to hold a match point in the deciding set.
It is worth keeping in mind the world No. 13 is playing her fourth Asian event in as many weeks. After arriving in China with a 2-3 showing in North America, she sought to compensate with a fourth round in Beijing, a third round in Wuhan and a quarterfinal in Ningbo. In all, she has played 11 matches in a month, six going to the deciding set.
The former world No. 4 has completed 12 months since her return to the WTA Tour from maternity absence. Within this period, she has become the semifinalist at Wimbledon and collected a WTA 500 title in Abu Dhabi, beating Ashlyn Krueger in its final in three sets; her career final win-loss improves to 9-10 (7-5 on hard courts).
The experienced 28-year-old is not a stranger to bidding for glory in the city of Tokyo. Ten years ago, she sought to win this very tournament as a teenager but was denied by Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets. More recently in 2021, she won the Olympic gold medal at this venue after surviving four consecutive three-set matches.
Linda Noskova, in contrast to her older opponent, has largely fared through effortlessly this week, even if both players received a bye in the first round. The Czech has not broken a sweat since dropping the first set to McCartney Kessler, going on to beat the American in comeback style and then benefitting from her foes' injuries.
The sixth seed moved past Anna Kalinskaya in the quarterfinals via retirement while leading 6-0, 1-0, and did not even have to show up on court for the semifinals after Elena Rybakina's withdrawal. Nevertheless, she would appreciate some extra rest time after having played a dozen matches in this busy Asian swing.
Earlier this month, the 20-year-old defeated Jessica Pegula and Zheng Qinwen (via ret.) en route to her biggest career final at the China Open. Further, she stood a set away from lifting the WTA 1000 crown in Beijing before being denied by the in-form Amanda Anisimova, a bittersweet result which confirmed her top-20 debut.
Her season becomes even more impressive after considering the fact that 10 of her 38 match wins have come against top-20 players alone (10-11), with the Asian swing accounting for three such scalps. The youngster has won over two dozen matches on outdoor hard courts in 2025, something she couldn’t achieve in prior years.
Despite all her bravado over the last ten months, the world No. 17 has a point to prove while holding a 1-4 record in WTA finals; she has lost both of her 2025 showpiece matches in three sets, in Prague and Beijing. It's been 14 months since being crowned as the WTA 500 champion in Monterrey, another WTA 500 tournament.
Head-to-head: 0-0. Who would come away with the final WTA 500 title of the season is anybody's call. Both players are likely to finish the season just outside the top-10 rankings. Linda Noskova is younger and has had a smoother path to the final, but it may not give her much of an edge against the worldly Belinda Bencic.