Monday Digest: Stakusic Wins Biggest Career Title Yet in Mexico

Marina Stakusic, the month of October, and a Canadian enjoying in Mexico: Three issues that simply appeared destined to provide an enormous consequence. 

The rising Canadian star picked up the most important win over her profession final week as she comes full circle from her breakout within the fall of 2023. And he or she was not the one Canadian to lift a trophy at that very same occasion as Rebecca Marino as soon as once more matched a career-best consequence with a victory in Mexico. 

Right here’s what you could know. 

Beneath the Radar: Canadians Clear Up in Tampico 

In 2024, Mexico has been a spot the place Canadians have typically performed properly, however they took it to a different stage final week on the WTA 125 occasion in Tampico, the place Marina Stakusic and Rebecca Marino each walked away with trophies. 

Stakusic scored the most important win of her profession to-date, profitable her first WTA 125 singles title. It’s the fourth skilled singles title of her profession however first at a WTA-run occasion. Her earlier greatest consequence was a pair of ITF W60 titles in 2023.  

Unseeded in Tampico, Stakusic received to the ultimate with the lack of only one set, within the quarter-finals in opposition to Lucrezia Stefanini, knocking off two seeds alongside the way in which (No. 7 Robin Montgomery in R2 and No. 6 Sara Sorribes Tormo within the semis). Within the remaining, the 19-year-old battled previous No. 5 seed Anna Blinkova in three units to assert the title. 

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Blinkova had prevented an all-Canadian remaining by beating Marino within the semis. 

The Canadian veteran didn’t go away Tampico empty-handed, nevertheless. She teamed up with American Carmen Corley to win the doubles title, the second WTA 125 doubles title of Marino’s profession. 

After back-to-back match tiebreak wins of their first two rounds, Marino and Corley received a walkover within the semis earlier than beating Alina Korneeva and Polina Kudermetova in straight units to assert the title.  

Liam Draxl and Cleeve Harper joined the Canadian winner’s parade final week, teaming as much as win the doubles on the ATP Challenger occasion in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

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The Canadian tandem received three straight match tiebreaks, together with within the semifinals in opposition to the second seeds, to succeed in the ultimate, the place they defeated the highest seeds Ryan Seggerman and Patrik Trhac in straight units for the title. 

It’s Draxl’s third ATP Challenger doubles title of 2024 and the second for Harper. The victory is their second on the Challenger stage collectively and third skilled title as a group. 

Canada very practically had a win in every self-discipline final week as Juan Carlos Aguilar reached the ultimate on the ITF M25 occasion in Norman, Oklahoma, however misplaced within the remaining, denying the Nice White North of a males’s singles title to go together with the boys’s doubles, ladies’s singles and doubles received elsewhere. 

Quebec performed host to the ITF W75 Challenger Banque Nationale de Saguenay final week. Click on right here to learn the total event recap. 

Toronto performs host to the ITF this week for the Tevlin Challenger, which was received by Stakusic in 2023 though the Canadian won’t be defending her title, as an alternative specializing in a WTA most important tour occasion. 

In Case You Missed It: Quarter-Closing Strikeout 

Final week on the principle excursions, a trio of Canadians had a few possibilities to make deep runs however tripped over the identical hurdle. 

Bianca Andreescu, Leylah Annie Fernandez, and Denis Shapovalov all reached the quarter-finals of their respective occasions however all three misplaced on Friday within the final eight. 

The 2 ladies have been competing on the similar occasion, the WTA 500 occasion in Tokyo, and each fell within the quarter-finals. Andreescu was crushed by Katie Boulter whereas Fernandez was edged in three units by the eventual champion Qinwen Zheng. 

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Over in Europe, Shapovalov reached the final eight on the ATP 500 occasion in Basel the place he misplaced a nail-biter in a third-set tiebreak to the eventual champion Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. The large-serving French had snapped Félix Auger-Aliassime’s 11-match profitable streak in Basel within the second spherical, ending the Canadian’s bid for a three-peat in northwest Switzerland. 

Simply by reaching the quarter-finals, Shapovalov leapfrogged again over Gabriel Diallo within the rankings to place himself to be Canada’s No. 1 singles participant on the upcoming Davis Cup Finals. 

After his second-round loss to Mpetshi Perricard, Auger-Aliassime introduced on his social media channels that he was ending his season early, withdrawing from this week’s Paris Masters and the 250 occasion in Metz the next week.  

What to Watch: Fernandez’s flip for title defence 

Final week was Félix Auger-Aliassime’s shot at a title defence. This week, it’s Leylah Annie Fernandez’s flip as she eyes back-to-back titles on the Hong Kong Tennis Open. 

The 2023 champion is seeded third and can kick off her defence in opposition to Heather Watson. Fernandez would face both Ana Bogdan or Kimberly Birrell within the second spherical.  

Her first potential seeded opponent is No. 9 Bernarda Pera within the quarter-finals. Fernandez is within the prime half with No. 1 seed Diana Shnaider, whom Fernandez has crushed in each earlier conferences, each of which happened within the final three months.  

Fernandez has efficiently defended a title earlier than, going back-to-back in Monterrey in 2021-2022. 

Marina Stakusic and Rebecca Marino will look to maintain the great instances rolling in Mexico this week, this time at a tour-level WTA 250 occasion in Merida.  

The Tampico singles champion opens her marketing campaign in opposition to Maya Joint and will play No. 7 seed Tatjana Maria within the second spherical. No. 2 seed Nadia Podoroska is her projected quarter-final opponent. 

Marino opens in opposition to Maja Chwalinksa and will play prime seed Renata Zarazua within the second spherical.  

You may observe the Canadians in motion each week right here.