When Bencic made her top 10 debut in 2016 – aged just 18 – she became the first teenager in the top 10 of the WTA singles rankings since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009.
It wasn’t until five years later, however, that she won her first big title, beating Marketa Vondrousova in the final of the Tokyo Olympics to claim the gold medal.
A few WTA Tour-level titles followed in 2022 and 2023, but her pregnancy meant she missed out on defending her Olympic gold in Paris.
By the time Bencic returned from her maternity break in October 2024, she had slipped to 1,213th in the world.
But less than four months later, Bencic was back to her best – reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open before winning the Abu Dhabi Open, which she celebrated with Bella in one arm and the trophy in the other.
A deep run at Wimbledon in July – ended in the semi-finals by eventual champion Iga Swiatek – lifted her back into the world’s top 20, and she clinched her second title of the year at October’s Pan Pacific Open.
During Wimbledon, she said: “I see myself as a mum first, and then a tennis player. My priorities are clearly with my family.”