Canadian veteran Rebecca Marino advanced in the U.S. Open women’s singles first-round qualifying match with a convincing 6-1, 6-4 victory over France’s Fiona Fero on Monday. The 35-year-old player from Vancouver showcased her skills with eight aces and capitalized on four of six break point opportunities against Fero.
Having successfully navigated the qualifiers last year, Marino is aiming for a repeat performance this year after falling in the first round to fellow Canadian Leylah Fernandez in the previous season. She is now set to face off against Russia’s Elena Pridankina in the upcoming round of the qualifying tournament.
In other Canadian tennis news, Carson Branstine secured her spot in the next round by defeating Clervie Ngounoue of the United States with a score of 6-2, 7-6 (3). Branstine’s next challenge will be against Czechia’s Linda Fruhvirtova. However, Kayla Cross from London, Ont., faced a tough defeat, losing 6-1, 6-1 to Robin Montgomery from the U.S.
Meanwhile, former U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu from Mississauga, Ont., was scheduled to compete against Eva Vedder from the Netherlands later on Monday. In the men’s category, Alexis Galarneau from Levis, Que., progressed to the second qualifying round after defeating Keegan Smith from the United States with a score of 7-6 (4), 6-3. Galarneau is now gearing up to face Czechia’s Dalibor Svrcina in the next round.
In the mixed doubles qualifying event, the second-seeded team of Gabriela Dabrowski from Ottawa and Harri Heliovaara from Finland suffered an unexpected loss to Kristina Mladenovic from France and Marcelo Arevalo from El Salvador. Dabrowski is also expected to participate in the women’s doubles event, aiming to replicate her success from last year when she clinched the title alongside former partner Erin Routliffe for their second U.S. Open championship in three years.