Photo : @beccamarino90
For the first time in their careers, Billie Jean King Cup teammates Rebecca Marino and Leylah Annie Fernandez found themselves on opposite sides of the net on Thursday night in the quarter-finals of the WTA 125 event in Tampico, Mexico.
It was the veteran Marino scoring winning the first match-up between the two Canadians, besting Fernandez in straight sets.
Marino feasted on her young countrywoman’s serve, breaking seemingly at will as she advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-3 win.
Fernandez had a day to forget on serve and Marino was happy to take advantage, winning 52 per cent of her return points and converting 5 of 10 break points. She won 71 per cent of her own first serves and saved two of four break points faced.
Both women struggled to hang on to their serves in the opening set and two quick breaks for Marino ended up being the difference. The veteran’s forehand was clicking in the early stages and a series of winners allowed her to break twice on her way to a 3-0 lead.
Even though Fernandez was able to break to love to get the first one back, the younger Canadian struggled to hang on to her serve. Marino broke again for a 5-2 lead and then, after she was broken serving for the set, took a love-40 lead as Fernandez served to stay in it and drew an error on her second set point to wrap up the opener.
Early in the second set, Fernandez had a chance to reset the tone when she held a pair of break points, but Marino was able to hit her way out of the jam.
A game later, Marino continued to bash away and draw errors off the racket of Fernandez which resulted in a break for a 3-1 lead.
Unlike the first set, Fernandez never had a sniff to get back in it. Marino did not face a break point for the remainder of the match and capped off the win with an ace.
Marino will meet fifth seed Magda Linette in the semifinals. Linette won their lone previous meeting earlier this year in Chennai. With the semifinal berth, the Canadian is projected to rise to No. 65 in the WTA rankings, just two spots below her previous best year-end ranking.
Both Marino and Fernandez will be part members of Canada’s Billie Jean King Cup team next month in Glasgow.
