Belinda Bencic recently shared images of herself relaxing with her family ahead of the BNP Paribas Open, which begins on March 3. The World No. 65 impressed in early February when she won the Abu Dhabi Open after defeating Ashlyn Krueger 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the final. The win was her first ATP tour title since taking a break from tennis to give birth to her daughter.

Since then, Bencic suffered an early exit from the Dubai Tennis Championships, going out in the second round after losing to Emma Navarro. Nonetheless, she has had a decent start to 2025, with 11 wins out of 15 matches so far.

Bencic recently took to her Instagram account to show images of her relaxing with her husband and physio Martin Hromkovic, and their nine-month-old daughter Bella.

Bencic married her fitness coach and boyfriend Martin Hromkovic last year, but kept news of their union secret until after her stunning victory in Abu Dhabi. The couple’s daughter Bella was present to see her mother, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist, win her second title at the WTA 500 tournament.

Belinda Bencic spoke after her Abu Dhabi win about the difference becoming a mother has made to her career

Belinda Bencic’s last tour title win was before her pregnancy break was also in Abu Dhabi. She captured that title in February 2023, when she got through to her second final of that season. The Swiss needed to save three match points before defeating Liudmila Samsonova in the final. The victory gave Bencic her seventh WTA title.

Her win at this year’s Abu Dhabi event was all the more impressive for the fact that she defeated two Wimbledon champions in Marketa Vondrousova and Elena Rybakina. The win leap-frogged her 92 places in the rankings, but she’s still some way short of her highest career ranking, when she reached No. 4 in early 2020.

Bendic has spoken about the difference her daughter has made to her tennis career, and her attitude to life on tour, and on court. She told the Tennis Insider Club podcast:

“It’s so weird. Before Bella, I would be devastated in my room, thinking about the match, thinking of what I should have, would have done differently. But I just went off the court and the next day we went to Bondi Beach and we had like the best day ever. It was an amazing day. And then I went back to the practice court.”

Bendic will go into Indian Wells as a wildcard for the BNP Paribas Open. It will be her ninth appearance at the tournament, with her best performance being reaching the semifinals in 2019.