MATCH POINT CANADA: S5, E35 – ITF PLAYER OF THE MONTH, MARINA STAKUSIC

She was recently named ITF Player of the Month for September and is set to represent Canada on their Billie Jean King Cup Finals squad this Fall! 18-year-old Canadian Marina Stakusic joins Match Point Canada for the first time, coming off a strong Summer/Fall swing which saw her capture two ITF titles – a 25K in Valladolid, Spain and a 60K event in Berkeley.

Stakusic discussed her quiet demeanour on court, and how it’s helped her with success. “I wouldn’t say that I’ve always been calm (on court),” Stakusic laughed.

“But in general, I’m a pretty calm person. When I play matches, it’s inside of me, but I try not show my opponents that I might be stressed out or angry.”

Stakusic’s strong results pushed her inside the top 300 for the first time as she continues to make progress in her professional career.

“My number one short term goal is to make it to Australian Open qualies,” revealed Stakusic, who is set to compete at the Tevlin Challenger in Toronto this week.

In November, she’ll play alongside Leylah Fernandez, Gaby Dabrowski, Rebecca Marino, and Genie Bouchard at the Billie Jean King Cup. “This is something I’ve wanted to be a part of since I started playing tennis. When I got the call, it was very special and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Meantime, Ben and Mike discuss another strong week from Fernandez, who made the semifinals of the Jiangxi Open, pushing her WTA ranking back inside the top 35.

Electric and dynamic American, Ben Shelton seized the first title of his pro career winning in Tokyo, while Felix Auger-Aliassime produced back-to-back wins for the first time since March.

He gets set to compete at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.

Listen to all of that and more in our newest episode of Match Point Canada, available on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify below. Enjoy!