Canadian Rebecca Marino advances to final round of Australian Open qualifying

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is one win away from securing a spot in the main draw of the Australian Open.

Marino beat No. 24 qualifying seed Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria 6-2, 7-6 (7) in the second round of women’s qualifying for the Grand Slam on Tuesday.

Marino will face Belgium’s Maryna Zanevska in the third and final round on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old Marino hasn’t played in a Grand Slam since the 2013 Australian Open. She was out of the sport for almost five years from 2013 to 2017.

Meanwhile, No. 25 qualifying seed Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., lost 6-2, 6-4 to Yue Yuan of China in the second round on Tuesday.

Toronto’s Steven Diez lost 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to No. 15 qualifying seed Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland in the second round of men’s qualifying in Doha.

Peter Polansky of Thornhill, Ont., lost 6-0, 6-1 to Alexandre Muller of France in another second-round match.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 12, 2021.

The Canadian Press