Canadian veteran Rebecca Marino advanced in the U.S. Open women’s singles qualifying round with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over France’s Fiona Fero on Monday. The 35-year-old player from Vancouver displayed a strong performance with eight aces and capitalized on four out of six break opportunities against Fero.
Last year, Marino successfully navigated the qualifying rounds at the U.S. Open but was eliminated in the first round by Leylah Fernandez, another Canadian player. She is now set to face Russia’s Elena Pridankina in the upcoming stages of the qualifying tournament.
Carson Branstine, another Canadian contender, secured a spot in the next round after defeating Clervie Ngounoue from the United States with a score of 6-2, 7-6 (3). Branstine’s next opponent will be Linda Fruhvirtova from Czechia. Unfortunately, Kayla Cross from London, Ont., faced a tough defeat against Robin Montgomery from the U.S. with a score of 6-1, 6-1.
Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., was scheduled to compete against Eva Vedder from the Netherlands later on Monday.
On the men’s side, Alexis Galarneau from Levis, Que., progressed to the second round of qualifying matches by defeating Keegan Smith from the United States with a score of 7-6 (4), 6-3. His next opponent will be Dalibor Svrcina from Czechia.
In mixed doubles qualifying, the second-seeded team comprising Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Finland’s Harri Heliovaara suffered an upset, losing to Kristina Mladenovic from France and Marcelo Arevalo from El Salvador in a close match with a score of 2-4, 4-1, 10-8.
Gabriela Dabrowski is also expected to participate in the women’s doubles event at the U.S. Open. She clinched the title last year alongside her former partner Erin Routliffe, marking their second U.S. Open championship victory in three years.