Bencic storms to seventh career title at Adelaide 2

No.8 seed Belinda Bencic ended her week at the Adelaide International 2 with authority, dispatching No.5 seed Daria Kasatkina 6-0, 6-2 in the final to win the seventh Hologic WTA Tour singles title of her career.

2021 Olympic gold medalist Bencic needed just 67 minutes to beat Kasatkina and set a new career-best showing in the city, having previously finished runner-up to Iga Swiatek at the 2021 Adelaide International. It is Bencic's first title on Australian soil.

Read more: 2023 Australian Open draw breakdown

Words from the winner: "I'm happy I could show my work here on the court," Bencic said in her post-match press conference. "I thought I played some great matches from the start of the tournament and also against different kind of opponents so I really could test myself out there in every way and just go confidently into the Australian Open."

Fast facts: With the victory, Bencic leveled her head-to-head with Kasatkina at three wins apiece. All six of the matches in their rivalry have been won in straight sets.

This week, Bencic has beaten multiple Top 10 players in a single hard-court tournament for the first time since the 2019 WTA Finals. Bencic beat World No.4 Caroline Garcia in the quarterfinals before Saturday's win over World No.8 Kasatkina.

Former World No.4 Bencic is projected to return to the Top 10 at World No.10 in Monday's updated rankings. It will be her first appearance in the Top 10 since September 28, 2020.

Tale of the match: It was a command performance by Bencic, who raced through the final without facing a break point. Bencic won 88 percent of her first-service points on her way to victory.

Bencic started the match with a bang, breaking Kasatkina at love in the opening game. She stormed ahead from there, unleashing a powerful forehand to force an error from Kasatkina and break again for 3-0.

The Swiss player had no trouble closing out the first set, ending the opener with a backhand winner down the line. Bencic made it eight straight games to start the clash before Kasatkina got on the board at 2-1 in the second set.

Kasatkina fended off a championship point at 5-1, eventually picking up her second game and forcing Bencic to serve for the title. The reigning Olympic champion was up to the task, converting her second championship point with an error-forcing backhand.

Doubles day: The Adelaide International 2 doubles final took place on Friday, where Luisa Stefani and Taylor Townsend defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Elena Rybakina 7-5, 7-6(3) in a tough 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Townsend made a clean sweep of the Adelaide doubles titles over the past two weeks. Last week, she won the Adelaide International 1 title alongside Asia Muhammad. Townsend is now up to three career WTA doubles titles.

Stefani has now won six WTA doubles titles, half of which have come after she returned to tour in September 2022 following a year-long absence due to an ACL injury.

This was also a strong return week for Pavlyuchenkova, who had not played an event since May due to her own knee injury.