Rebecca Marino of Canada plays a forehand return to Zhu Lin of China during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. Marino fell 7-6 (5), 6-2 to Russia's Daria Kasatkina in the opening round of the Qatar Open on Tuesday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
DOHA, Qatar – Canada’s Rebecca Marino fell 7-6 (5), 6-2 to Russia’s Daria Kasatkina in the opening round of the Qatar Open on Tuesday.
The Vancouver native had one ace to four double faults and only won 46.2 per cent of first-serve points. However, Marino went 4-for-8 on break point opportunities.
Kasatkina didn’t record a single ace and had six doubles faults of her own. She won 59.3 per cent of first-serve points and broke on six of her 15 chances across the one hour 41-minute match.
Marino made it into the main draw after three consecutive wins in qualifying.
The 32-year-old defeated Ukraine’s Katarina Zavatska, Belarus’s Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Czechia’s Marie Bouzkova between Saturday and Monday.
Marino was the last Canadian remaining as Laval, Que., native Leylah Fernandez was ousted in the final qualifying round on Monday by Czechia’s Karolina Pliskova.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2023.
