Canadian veteran Rebecca Marino advanced in the U.S. Open women’s singles qualifying rounds with a strong performance against France’s Fiona Fero, winning 6-1, 6-4. The Vancouver native, aged 35, showcased her skills with eight aces and breaking Fero four times out of six opportunities.
Last year, Marino successfully navigated the qualifying rounds at the U.S. Open but was defeated in the first round by Leylah Fernandez. Her next challenge in the three-round qualifying tournament will be against Russia’s Elena Pridankina.
Another Canadian, Carson Branstine, also secured a victory, defeating Clervie Ngounoue of the United States with a score of 6-2, 7-6 (3). Branstine is now set to face Linda Fruhvirtova from Czechia. Unfortunately, Kayla Cross from London, Ont., faced a tough loss against Robin Montgomery of the U.S. with a score of 6-1, 6-1.
Meanwhile, Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., was scheduled to compete against Eva Vedder from the Netherlands later in the day.
In the men’s section, Alexis Galarneau from Levis, Que., defeated Keegan Smith of the United States with a score of 7-6 (4), 6-3, advancing to the next qualifying round where he will meet Dalibor Svrcina from Czechia.
In the mixed doubles qualifying rounds, the second-seeded team of Gabriela Dabrowski from Ottawa and Harri Heliovaara from Finland suffered an upset, losing 2-4, 4-1, 10-8 to Kristina Mladenovic from France and Marcelo Arevalo from El Salvador. Dabrowski is also expected to compete in the women’s doubles event, aiming to replicate her success from last year’s U.S. Open where she clinched the title alongside her former partner, Erin Routliffe.