Aryna Sabalenka says Belinda Bencic's Abu Dhabi Open win has given hope to female players planning to embrace motherhood without fully quitting tennis

Aryna Sabalenka has joined the list of names Belinda Bencic has impressed with her Abu Dhabi triumph. The Swiss player, having returned from maternity just months ago, lifted the WTA 500 title after a spectacular week

As Bencic posed for pictures with the trophy, her arms around her daughter Bella, words of admiration and encouragement from the tennis fraternity poured in. Sabalenka now, while speaking to The National in a recent interview, said the Swiss players' achievement will inspire others.

The World No. 1 also took note of Bencic's strong run at the Australian Open (where she made the second week) before saying that an increasing number of women players now believe that they can return to the sport and be successful after becoming mothers.

“That's impressive, honestly," Aryna Sabalenka said. "She just came back, Australian Open she had a great run [to the fourth round], and now she's holding the trophy. It's amazing, I'm super happy for her, she definitely deserved that."

“As she said, she worked really hard for that, and it's good to see. It gives us hope that probably, whenever we’re all going to go for babies, we have a chance to come back if we want to,” she added.

Bencic was in full flight, taking wins over Grand Slam champions Elena Rybakina and Marketa Vondrousova before beating Ashlyn Krueger in the summit clash.

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Aryna Sabalenka returns to tennis action at the Qatar Open, and Belinda Bencic is to have a week off

Aryna Sabalenka hits the practice courts ahead of the Qatar Open. (Source: Getty)

While Aryna Sabalenka returns to action for the first time since losing the Australian Open final to Madison Keys this week, Belinda Bencic will enjoy a welcome week off from the Tour.

Sabalenka is the top seed at this year's Qatar Open, a WTA 1000 event that got underway with main draw action on Monday. By being the top seed, Sabalenka has received a bye in the opening round.

There is, however, no room for the Belarusian as she will run into either US Open champion Emma Raducanu or recent Linz champion Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round. The two women are scheduled to play their opening-round encounter on Monday itself.

Bencic, meanwhile, has chosen to give the Qatar Open a miss this year. She will return to action at the Dubai Tennis Championships next week, having sought an entry into the main draw of the WTA 500 event using her protected ranking.