Alex Eala’s winning run ends. The Filipina tennis sensation was defeated by former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, 4-6, 0-6, in the Round of 16 of the WTA 1000 National Bank Open in Toronto.
Eala struggled hard in the opening set but lost. Bencic, ranked 14th in the world, then triumphed in the second set 6-0. The game was 73 minutes long. Bencic has won 10 WTA titles and a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
The victory propels the 29-year-old Bencic into the quarterfinals, where she will meet world No. 4 Coco Gauff. This is Bencic’s third straight quarterfinal showing in Canada.
The crowd mostly cheered for Eala. One fan even dressed up as a raptor, a tribute to Toronto’s NBA franchise. Bencic acknowledged the fans regardless, tho. She said she was grateful to play in front of so many people, even if most of them were supporting her opponent.
Bencic also said she doesn’t like playing left-handers like Eala. “It feels uncomfortable but I guess I have good timing against them anyway,” she remarked.
This loss terminated Eala’s longest victory run to date, and it was also the longest current streak on the WTA Tour. Before that, Eala had beaten No. 70 Caty McNally 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, despite a scare with her ankle. She also defeated No. 71 Alycia Parks 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.
Eala’s run began with her winning her first WTA championship at the Mubadala Citi DC Open. There she defeated top-seeded Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. That win marked her as the first Filipina to claim a WTA Tour singles title. On her route she also beat elite players like Zheng Qinwen, Leylah Fernandez, Elina Svitolina and Naomi Osaka.
“Bencic played really well and put me in tough spots after the loss,” Eala remarked. But she stated it had been a wonderful week all round and she was satisfied with her run. She described her debut in Toronto great, saying she’s glad for the opportunity. She will have two days off before resuming training.
Eala’s next tournament is another WTA 1000 event, the Cincinnati Open, which starts Thursday. It will be her penultimate competition before the US Open, which is held at Flushing Meadows, New York, from August 30 to September 13.
