Belinda Bencic defeated world number four Petra Kvitova 6-3, 1-6, 6-2  to become only the second Swiss woman to lift the women’s singles trophy at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Martina Hingis won the event in 2001.

Bencic, who earlier this week defeated three of the world’s top-10 players — Aryna Sabalenka, Elina Svitolina and Simona Halep, put herself for a fourth scalp with a couple of breaks in the third and seventh games to pocket her third career title.

“One of the things I promised my dad if I won this tournament is that we would go skydiving and do a bit of shopping,” Bencic told spectators on centre court. “This is the first title for me this season and that makes this one very special. She hits so hard and so the plan throughout was to ensure I got as many balls as possible across the net. I am not feeling all that tired, but I think I will once I receive my trophy,” she added.