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<\/p>\n2015 Canada champion Belinda Bencic pulled away from Alexandra Eala to book the last quarterfinal spot at the National Bank Open.<\/p>\n
Alexandra Eala had wind in her sails heading into her first career meeting with Belinda Bencic on Sunday night in Toronto \u2013 and a stadium full of fans to back her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
None of it mattered very much as Bencic, playing close to the lines and with the narrowest margins, ran past the talented southpaw, 6-4, 6-0 to book her fourth trip to the quarterfinals at the National Bank Open.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The loss snaps Eala\u2019s career best winning streak, ending the DC Open champion\u2019s unblemished run at seven.<\/p>\n
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It wasn\u2019t just a solid win for the 2015 champion \u2013 it was a gem of a performance that sparkled from start to finish. Bencic clocked 23 winners against just 6 unforced errors and won 72 percent of first-serve points as she ran away from the Filipino trailblazer and did what no one else has been able to do during the North American hard court season thus far: quiet the eardrum-splitting fervor of Eala\u2019s passionate fanbase.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were loud, as expected, but never really had a chance to go crazy down the stretch as Bencic pinballed through the final eight games on the trot to seal the win in 73 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tennis Express<\/p>\n Grass-Court RacquetsThe frames the pros swing<\/p>\n Shop racquets \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n Eala hit 16 winners against 15 unforced errors \u2013 but only managed to win 46 percent of first-serve points.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI 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, and thank you so much for the great crowd tonight,\u201d Bencic said after the win, which sets up a quarterfinal with Coco Gauff.\u2029<\/p>\n Bencic has now won her last ten matches against southpaws.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI hate to play against lefties, so I\u2019m surprised by this,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Benic is one of three moms to have reached the last eight in Toronto, along with Naomi Osaka, who ended the hopes of hometown favorite Leylah Fernandez, 6-4, 6-4, and Elina Svitolina, who defeated Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really happy for all of the moms that do really well, and obviously, I think we take inspiration from each other,\u201d she said. \u201cBut at the end of the day, on the court, we don\u2019t really think about that. We\u2019re still athletes and trying to do our best.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Earlier on Saturday Coco Gauff took care of rising 19-year-old Alina Korneeva, 6-3, 6-1.\u00a0<\/p>\n The 22-year-old American is the highest seed remaining, at No.4. She\u2019s also one of four former Grand Slam champions to have reached the quarterfinals, along with Osaka, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina.\u00a0<\/p>\n