Another day, another grind. For Belinda Bencic, it’s a story she knows all too well. The Swiss tennis star has clawed her way into her second Pan Pacific Open final, a full decade after her first appearance. Talk about a long game. This time, she outlasted American Sofia Kenin in a grueling three-set marathon that had all the drama of a season finale.

After a gritty 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-2 win, Bencic is now set to face Czech player Linda Noskova. It’s a shot at redemption, a chance to finally hoist a trophy that slipped through her fingers back in 2015 against Agnieszka Radwanska. You could practically see the exhaustion mixed with determination on her face. It’s that classic athlete cocktail of “my body is screaming” and “my mind won’t let me quit.”

“I feel very old to hear that I’m in the

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