Alex Eala's winning stretch comes to an end for now with a 4-6, 0-6 loss against Belinda Bencic in the Round of 16 of the National Bank Open in Toronto on Monday morning Philippine time.
It's the first straight sets loss by the Filipina since her Round of 32 defeat against Elise Mertens at the Bad Homburg Open, 3-6, 3-6. This also ended her seven-game winning streak of Eala in the North American hard court swing, which became the longest of the 21-year old's career.
Both players opened the match with comfortable holds, but Eala ran into trouble on her first service game of the set, committing two early double faults that opened the door for Bencic. The Swiss capitalized on the opportunity to secure the first break and take a 2-1 lead.
Alex Eala acknowledges the crowd after losing to Belinda Bencic. Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images The serve breaks continued in the following two games, with the Filipina immediately answering back to level the set before the Tokyo Olympics singles' gold medalist struck again for her second break. The 12th seed then consolidated the advantage with a hold to create some separation at 4-2.
Eala refused to let the set slip away, answering Bencic's advantage with a hold in the seventh before breaking back in the eighth to level the set at 4-4. But the 29-year old immediately regained control, breaking Eala in the ninth game before serving out the set in the 10th to take the opening set.
Bencic's first-serve efficiency proved to be a key difference in the opening set, as she won 67% of her first-serve points compared to Eala's 53%.
The same serving woes carried over into the second set, as Bencic immediately broke Eala in the opening game and struck again in the third after holding serve in between to race out to a 3-0 lead.
Bencic never relinquished control from there, winning eight return points on Eala's first serve to keep the Filipina under constant pressure and complete the second-set bagel.
Eala will now turn her attention to another WTA 1000 event, the Cincinnati Open, which gets underway on August 15, where she is also expected to receive a first-round bye.