Alex Eala

Alex Eala’s streak ends at Belinda Bencic’s hands in Canadian Open

ByJustpaste.in

Alex Eala

 

MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala saved three match points in a desperate attempt to extend her winning run, but her resistance only stalled what seemed like the inevitable on a night when she struggled for find her best form.

Eala saw her headline-grabbing run in the Canadian Open come to a screeching halt after a 6-4, 6-0 loss to world No. 14 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in the round of 16 on Sunday, August 9 (Monday, August 10, Manila time).

The fatigue from consecutive matches and the right ankle injury she sustained in the previous round appeared to have caught up with Eala as the defeat snapped her seven-match winning streak.

Rappler trains 2026 Aries Rufo Fellows in public interest journalism

Bencic, the 2015 champion of the WTA 1000 tournament and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, pounced on Eala, clinching the last eight games to advance and set up a quarterfinal date with American world No. 4 Coco Gauff.

Eala broke Bencic to level the first set at 4-4, but that turned out the last time she won a game as the 29-year-old Swiss swept the rest of the match.

Bageled for the first time since her 0-6, 2-6 loss to Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova in the round of 16 of the Miami Open in March, Eala totaled just eight points in the second set.

Three of those points came in the final game, where Eala fought back from 0-40 to force Bencic to deuce.

But it did not take long for Bencic to regain control as she grabbed the next two points to wrap up her win in 1 hour and 13 minutes.

Curiously, Eala lost in the same manner in which she captured her first-ever WTA Tour title following a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over American world No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the final of the Washington Open a week ago.

Eala won the last eight games against Pegula to lift the WTA 500 crown.

Still, it was a commendable run for Eala in Toronto as she packed the Centre Court of Sobeys Stadium in her victories over Americans Alycia Parks and Caty McNally.

Absorbing the first defeat of her North American hard-court swing, Eala looks to regain her bearings before she returns to action in the Cincinnati Open — another WTA 1000 tournament — later this week. – Rappler.com

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