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May was a month to remember for Rebecca Marino as the 28-year-old continued to move up the WTA Tour rankings. Her efforts were rewarded with the biggest title of her career thus far as she claimed the ITF Japan 11A crown thanks to a stellar win over Yuki Naito in the final.

All in all, Marino rose 48 places to No. 145 in May – ensuring her status as Tennis Canada’s Star of the Month.

It could have been even better for Marino, had it not been for a semi-final loss to top-seed Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan earlier in the month. The Canadian had beaten third-seed Ayano Shimizu in the quarter-finals but came up short 6-2, 6-3 against Diyas.

Her road to glory just a week later saw Marino defeat seventh-seed Kaylah McPhee of Australia in the final four before taking on Naito in the final. The 28-year-old was cool, calm and collected as she secured a 6-4, 7-6(0) victory over her Japanese opponent.

Honourable Mentions

Unfortunate to miss out on the Star of the Month award for May, Félix Auger-Aliassime reached the milestone of breaking into the ATP’s Top 25. The 18 year old rose from No. 30 to No. 22, mainly due to his run to the final of the Lyon Open.

There, the Montrealer beat top-seed Nikoloz Basilashvili in the semi-finals to setup a clash with Benoit Paire. However, hampered by injury, Auger-Aliassime was unable to claim his first ATP Tour title, losing 6-4, 6-3 to the Frenchman in the final.

Meanwhile, Gaby Dabrowski continued to light up the world of doubles in May and is unlucky not to be named our Star of the Month. The 27 year old claimed the Nuremberg Cup alongside doubles partner Xu Yifan, beating fellow Canadian Sharon Fichman and her teammate Nicole Melichar 4-6, 7-6(5), 10-5 in the final.

Prior to that title, Dabrowski and Xu had started the month with a heartbreaking 6-3, 6-1 loss to Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strycova in the final of the Madrid Open. They also reached the round of 16 of the Italian Open, losing 6-2, 6-7(5), 10-8 to Shuko Aoyama and Lidziya Marozava.

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