MANILA, Philippines — Filipino tennis ace Alexandra "Alex" Eala faces another Olympic gold medalist, Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, in the fourth round (round of 16) of the WTA 1000 National Bank Open in Toronto on Monday (Manila time).
Kickstarting her perfect run in Washington, Eala took down reigning Olympic champ Zheng Qinwen, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, on July 29.
Now, the Philippine sensation battles the Olympic gold medalist before Zheng (2024) in Bencic (2021).
Bencic defeated Czech Markéta Vondroušová, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, at the Tokyo Olympics final.
A 10-time champ, the 29-year-old Bencic is ranked No. 14 in the WTA while the 21-year-old Eala is No. 20.
Bencic is the No. 12 seed in this Toronto tournament while Eala is No. 25.
Like Eala who outlasted Caty McNally in the third round, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, on Saturday, Bencic gutted out a 3-set win after a 3-hour and 24-minute battle against Taylor Townsend, 6(5)-7, 7-6(4), 6-4.
The winner between Eala and Bencic will face either Coco Gauff or Alina Korneeva in the quarterfinals.
