Belinda Bencic unbeaten vs. lefties since 2024 with Alex Eala the latest victim

Alexandra "Alex" Eala’s left-handed game is one of her biggest strengths, making it difficult for opponents to adjust and anticipate where her attacks are coming from.

But Belinda Bencic seemed to have the answers for that as the Swiss star rolled to a dominant win against the Filipina in their Canadian Open Round of 16 match on early Monday in Toronto.

Eala kept it close in Set 1 but the world No. 14 Bencic blanked the Philippine bet in the second frame to complete a 6-4, 6-0 win and advance to the quarterfinals against Coco Gauff.

Before the match, Eala was riding a career-best seven-match winning streak, highlighted by five straight victories during her title run at the Mubadala DC Open and two more wins to open her Canadian Open campaign.

But Eala eventually lost steam, and the streak was snapped in the process.

Bencic, meanwhile, extended her own dominance against left-handed players to 10 straight wins since 2024.

It was so impressive that even Bencic herself was surprised about the statistics during the on-court interview.

"Honestly, I hate to play against lefties, so I'm surprised by these statistics. It's obviously very tricky," Bencic said.

"Maybe it helped me a little bit that I played a lefty the round before against Taylor Townsend, so that was a tough one. So I kind of got used to the serve a little bit. But yeah, I mean, I wish I was a lefty too."

Aside from Eala, Bencic had also beaten several left-handed players in the past, including Markéta Vondrousova in the 2025 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open quarterfinals, Diana Shnaider in the 2025 Indian Wells Open Round of 32, and Taylor Townsend in the Round of 32 of his Canadian Open.

Still, Bencic was grateful to face Eala and play in front of the massive crowd that showed up for the Pinay.

"Yeah, thank you. I know most of you guys were cheering for Alex, but I still have to say it was very nice for me to play in front of you all. Thank you so much for the great crowd tonight."

—JMB, GMA News