Montreal Gazette

Marino optimistic despite an early exit

- PAT HICKEY phickey@postmedia.com twitter.com/zababes1

Rebecca Marino came up short in her bid to earn a spot in the main draw of the Rogers Cup Canadian Open women’s tennis championsh­ips, but she found reasons to be optimistic after losing to China’s Qiang Wang 7-5, 6-4 in the final round of qualifying Sunday.

“I felt I had that match on my racket,” said the 27-year-old Vancouver native, who is now based in Montreal. “I didn’t think she won it — well, obviously she won — but I think I lost the match. I’m happy about that in a way because it means there are things I can work on.”

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Marino was competitiv­e against Wang because she was once ranked in the top 40 before taking a fiveyear hiatus from the game. She has made steady progress since returning to the tour in January.

“I’ve gone from $15,000 tournament­s playing against players with no ranking to just missing a spot in the main draw of a WTA Premier event against a girl who’s 53rd in the world and just coming off a title in China,” said Marino. “It’s a steep learning curve, but I feel I belong on the court out there. I have to keep telling myself I belong out there and look at the long-term results.”

Marino said she didn’t start her comeback with any expectatio­ns and will review her progress after a full year on the tour.

“I’d like to get to the point where I can get into the qualies for the (Grand Slams),” said Marino.

To do that, she would need a ranking in the top 240 and she’s on pace to reach that mark. She’s currently just outside the top 300. Any points she picks up in 2018 are gravy because she has no points to defend.

Sunday’s match turned on two games in the middle of the second set. Marino had her only break points of the match when Wang fell behind 15-40 while serving at 2-3. After sending a defensive lob long on the first break opportunit­y, Marino went full-out aggressive but was off-target with three consecutiv­e service returns.

Wang had two break points in the next game and only needed one of them to go ahead 4-3. On break point, Wang ’s shot hit the top of the net and went over. Marino managed to reach the short ball, but she pushed her return wide.

Marino’s departure from the tour in 2013 was the result of depression and cyber-bullying. On Monday, she will participat­e in a seminar organized by Fearlessly­GIRL, an internatio­nal anti-bullying organizati­on.

Marino said she doesn’t want to be seen as a role model, but she’s willing to discuss her experience­s when it can help others.

The only other Canadian with a shot at the main draw was 15-yearold Leylah Annie Fernandez of Laval. Fernandez put up a strong fight against Britain’s Katie Boulter, a 22-year-old who is ranked No. 118. The young Canadian survived three match points before losing 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

“I think the difference was experience,” said Fernandez, who first made news in May when she reached the French Open junior semifinals.

Fernandez was relegated to one of the smaller courts at the Jarry Tennis Centre complex and it was standing room only for the pro-Canadian crowd.

“It was amazing, the crowd pumped me up,” said Fernandez.

She was hoping to get a direct wild-card into the event, but she had to win three matches in a prequalify­ing tournament. She then had the good fortune to draw Poland’s Alicja Rosolska in the first round and won 6-3, 6-2. Rosolska is a top-30 doubles player, but rarely plays singles.

Because Fernandez is still an amateur, she didn’t collect the $3,260 as a losing finalist in the qualifying.

The main draw gets underway Monday and the featured match in the afternoon session will be between 11th-seeded American Venus Williams and qualifier Caroline Dolehide.

Maria Sharapova opens the evening session at 6:30 against qualifier Sesil Karatantch­eva of Bulgaria. That will be followed by a match between Canadian wild card Françoise Abanda and qualifier Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.

Eugenie Bouchard was supposed to play Elise Mertens of the Netherland­s Monday evening, but that match has been pushed back to Tuesday because Mertens is flying in from San Jose, where she lost in the semifinals Saturday.

Bouchard will be on the grandstand for an afternoon doubles match.

She and American Sloane Stephens will play the fifth seeds, Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and Yifan Xu of China.

I felt I had that match on my racket.

 ?? CHRISTOPHE­R KATSAROV/THE CANADIAN PRESS ?? Canadian tennis player Rebecca Marino failed to qualify for the main draw at the Rogers Cup after losing her second match of the qualifying event on Sunday. But the Montreal-based player considered it another step forward in her comeback.
CHRISTOPHE­R KATSAROV/THE CANADIAN PRESS Canadian tennis player Rebecca Marino failed to qualify for the main draw at the Rogers Cup after losing her second match of the qualifying event on Sunday. But the Montreal-based player considered it another step forward in her comeback.

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