AS if by design, Alex Eala lost to Belinda Bencic.
It’s a bold assessment, but I’ll stick to it.
This was last Monday, August 10 Philippine time, when Bencic, the 29-year-old Swiss machine, hammered out a 6-4, 6-0 win over the 21-year-old Eala in the Round of 16 of the National Bank Open in Toronto, Canada.
It was a mismatch, to say the least.
The scores showed it as results never lie.
How can Eala lose a set at love when she had just gallantly, courageously, piled up seven straight wins before she faced Bencic?
There is but only one credible explanation to this: Eala was exhausted going into the Bencic match. Dog tired.
Anyone daring to question that is absolutely out of order.
Eala appeared visibly spent playing Bencic, huffing and puffing to save shots, groaning and groping to retrieve blistering returns that, on ordinary days, were mere chicken feed.
Eala’s been in grueling battles for two straight weeks. She had struggled to win big matches.
Did she not string up five straight wins to win the Mubadala DC Open in Washington for her first WTA 500 title?
That was a tough act to follow as her victims included top notch players like 2024 Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng, defending champion Leylah Fernandez and No. 1 ranked and world No. 3 Jessica Pegula.
In the finals of the Mubadala DC Open, Eala had to buck a 4-6 first-set loss to win the last two sets-capping her maiden WTA crown with a phenomenal 6-0 triumph over Pegula in the third-set decider after a crucial 6-4 win in the second set.
And before she faced Bencic in the National Bank Open third round, Eala hurdled previous tormentor Alycia Parks in another nerve-wracking three-setter, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, in the first round.
And in her second-round match against American Caty McNally, Eala had to again dig deep into her arsenal of tricks to capture a lung-tearing 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory over an opponent that had ousted reigning Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova just the day before.
You complete back-to-back wins in as many days-both three-setters at that-what does that tell you?
Add the previous five energy-sapping wins before that and what have we got here?
A WMD-Weapon of Mass Destruction?
Oh, yes, wait a minute.
What about Eala’s doubles date with Venus Williams?
A disaster as they bowed in the first round-after Eala’s hard-earned win over Parks.
That loss added up to Alex’s fatigue factor.
In the end, though, I’ll give it to Bencic, albeit grudgingly.
Bencic is a 10-time champion to Eala’s solitary title.
A mother of one from Flawil, Switzerland, Bencic knew she had a virtual weakling at her disposal in Eala-Alex was obviously there for the taking, like a game fowl.
The cruel thing in sports is, you are like a soldier. You kill everything that moves.
No quarters given.
But Eala knows, too, that a loss is but a temporary setback. And, in fact, her defeat to Bencic will afford her the luxury of grabbing more rest in preparation for the Cincinnati Open set Aug. 14-23 in Ohio, USA.
Then, after that, it’d be the real deal: the US Open from Aug. 30 to Sept. 13, the season’s fourth and last Grand Slam set in Flushing Meadows, New York.
Not to worry, Alex. The Filipino got your back.
THAT’S IT Birthday greetings to Col. Serge Austria (ret.) on August 11 from his JALOTS wine mates: Jake P. Ayson, mistah Admiral Louie Fernandez (ret.), Los Angeles-based Tony Sisante and yours truly. Isang manipis!