Canadian veteran Rebecca Marino advanced in the U.S. Open women’s singles first-round qualifying with a solid 6-1, 6-4 victory over France’s Fiona Fero. The Vancouver native, aged 35, showcased her skills with eight aces and capitalized on four of six break opportunities against Fero.
Marino, who successfully navigated the qualifiers last year, is now set to challenge Russia’s Elena Pridankina in the upcoming rounds. Joining her in the next stage is Carson Branstine, another Canadian player, who secured a 6-2, 7-6 (3) win over Clervie Ngounoue from the United States. Branstine’s next opponent will be Linda Fruhvirtova from Czechia. Unfortunately, Kayla Cross from London, Ont., suffered a defeat, losing 6-1, 6-1 to Robin Montgomery of the U.S.
Meanwhile, Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., was scheduled to compete against Eva Vedder of the Netherlands on Monday. In the men’s qualifiers, Alexis Galarneau from Levis, Que., also progressed to the next round with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over Keegan Smith of the United States. Galarneau’s next challenge will be against Dalibor Svrcina from Czechia.
Turning to mixed doubles, the second-seeded team of Gabriela Dabrowski from Ottawa and Harri Heliovaara from Finland faced an upset, losing 2-4, 4-1, 10-8 to Kristina Mladenovic of France and Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador in the opening round. Dabrowski, who is expected to compete in women’s doubles as well, clinched the U.S. Open title last year alongside her former partner, Erin Routliffe, marking their second championship in three years.