Alexandra Eala‘s remarkable seven-match winning streak came to an end on Sunday night, August 9, as Belinda Bencic proved too tough an obstacle in the fourth round of the National Bank Open. The Swiss veteran and No. 12 seed dispatched the rising Filipina star in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0, in a match that took just 1 hour and 13 minutes to complete.

The loss snapped Eala’s impressive run heading into Toronto and marked the first-ever meeting between the two players on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. Bencic broke serve in the ninth game to close out a tight opening set before slamming the door shut in the second, denying Eala a single game.

Bencic’s Toronto Dominance Proves Too Much

For Eala, the defeat came against a player who has built an extraordinary record at this very tournament. The win was Bencic’s 18th career victory at the National Bank Open, the most she has recorded at any WTA 1000 event, surpassing her next-highest total of 15 wins at Indian Wells. Bencic also improved to 15-4 on hard courts this season, the surface on which she has claimed eight of her 10 career singles titles.

Adding to the tough matchup for Eala, the win extended Bencic’s streak to 10 consecutive victories over left-handed opponents dating back to 2024, a stat even the Swiss veteran admitted she couldn’t fully explain.

“I feel like it can’t be coincidental, I don’t think,” Bencic said. “It’s weird for me as well because I really hate playing lefties and it’s just not comfortable, like the entire match you are uncomfortable, but maybe I feel like because I have good timing, I’m kind of able to switch. That’s the only thing I can think of because I really don’t like playing them.”

Next Up for the Winner: A Familiar Foe in Gauff

With the win, Bencic advanced to the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 event for the 13th time in her career and for the second time this season, having also reached that stage in Miami. There, she fell to her next scheduled opponent in Toronto, No. 4 seed Coco Gauff, who cruised past qualifier Alina Korneeva, 6-3, 6-1, earlier on Sunday to book her own quarterfinal spot.

Gauff currently leads her head-to-head series with Bencic 6-2, including wins in each of their last four meetings, all within the past 16 months and each going the distance to a third set.

“Obviously she’s someone that always puts herself in the position to win the quarterfinals and later on in the tournament, so obviously she’s a great champion and she’s very tricky to play against,” Gauff said of Bencic. “I feel like I came close so many times but always kind of lost in the third set, but it’s really challenging to play against her, so I’m excited to try again.”

For Eala, the loss ends a breakout stretch that had built genuine momentum on tour, but it also offers a measuring-stick moment against one of the WTA’s most battle-tested competitors heading into her next events.