On her way to capturing her first career WTA title at the WTA 500 Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, Alex Eala rallied from a set down in the opening round to overcome 2024 Paris Olympic singles gold medalist Zheng Qinwen of China.
As Eala seeks to advance at the WTA 1000 Canadian Open, she will need to overcome another Olympic gold medalist in the fourth round of the tournament.
Standing between Eala and a spot in the quarterfinals is 12th seed and former world No. 4 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.
Bencic won the women’s singles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Among those she defeated on her way to the top prize were four players who would eventually rise to the world’s top six: Jessica Pegula in the first round, Barbora Krejčíková in the third round, Elena Rybakina in the semifinals, and Marketa Vondroušová in the final.
Bencic also came close to winning another Olympic gold in women’s doubles, but she and Viktorija Golubic lost to the Czech Republic pair Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková in the final.
In Toronto this week, Bencic made short work of former US Open champion Sloane Stephens of the United States in the second round, 6-3, 6-1. She then survived a grueling three-hour, 26-minute marathon against another American, world No. 2 doubles player Taylor Townsend, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Bencic has had a solid, albeit unspectacular, year thus far. Her best results have been quarterfinal appearances at the WTA 1000 Miami Open and the WTA 500 Charleston Open.
She also reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, the French Open, the WTA 1000 Indian Wells, the WTA 1000 Dubai Tennis Championships, and the WTA 1000 Madrid Open.
The 29-year-old Bencic’s game is reminiscent of the Swiss great and former world No. 1 Martina Hingis. This is hardly surprising, considering Bencic began receiving professional training at the age of five under Melanie Molitor, Hingis’ mother and longtime coach.
That early, top-notch coaching helped Bencic rise to world No. 1 in the junior rankings, winning the girls’ singles titles at both the French Open and Wimbledon.
Bencic took a break from tennis in late 2023 and through 2024 to give birth to her daughter. During her first full year back on tour in 2025, she reached the semifinals of Wimbledon and the fourth round of the Australian Open.
The current Swiss No. 1 is a high-IQ player whose versatility allows her to adjust to whatever game plan her opponent employs. Her aggressive style combines powerful groundstrokes with drop shots and even lobs, keeping her opponents continuously off-balance.
Expect a tactical and cerebral battle between Eala and Bencic, who are both adept at redirecting power shots and constructing points on the fly with a dynamic variety of shots. Both move well around the court, although there could be questions about Eala’s fitness after she rolled her ankle in her previous match against Caty McNally.
One area the Filipina world No. 20 could look to exploit is Bencic’s serve returns, which have been described by experts as among the best in the game. Bencic possesses a powerful first serve, but her second serve has often been shaky. In her first two matches this week, she averaged seven double faults.
If Eala can punish Bencic even on her first serves, it could plant seeds of doubt in the Swiss player’s mind and expose vulnerabilities in her service game.
Eala will need to take chances and go for the lines to put Bencic on the back foot. Engaging in prolonged exchanges could be dangerous given Bencic’s ability to anticipate attacks and use angles to open up the court, forcing opponents into errors.
Quickening the pace and shortening the rallies with deep drives to keep Bencic away from the center of the baseline could swing the match in Eala’s favor.
Whoever comes out on top of this fairly even fourth-round clash will advance to the quarterfinals against the winner of the intriguing matchup between fourth seed Coco Gauff of the United States and the only unseeded player remaining in the draw, 19-year-old Russian and Rafa Nadal Academy product Alina Korneeva.
