Rebecca Marino vs Venus Williams
Are you familiar with the name Rebecca Marino? Most of the world wasn’t until last Wednesday at the US Open when the young North Vancouver woman gave world 3rd ranked Venus Williams a run for her money.
Rebecca Marino is 179th in the world, and nobody expected much out of her, except of course for Marino herself. The score was 7-6, 6-3 in favour of Venus Williams, but the numbers are only a fraction of the story. Williams is quoted as saying: “It seemed like every time I had something going, she’d hit a big serve. Now I know what it’s like to play myself.”
This match saw Marino trading with Williams blow-for-blow throughout the entire first set, all the way to the tie-break. In the tie-break Marino took a 3-1 lead, but Williams quickly answered with a backhand winner which she followed up by a perfect forehand to level the set at 3-3. It was an error on the part of the 19-year-old Vancouverite that gave Williams the space she needed to win the tie-break.
By the second set Venus had found her stride and Rebecca lost ground fast. But the young up-and-comer is still happy with her performance. “It’s a little disappointing but also exciting, I was super excited with the way I was able to go toe-to-toe with her... I guess I can say I’m proud of myself.” And she should be. The stats here don’t lie.
Marino hit eight aces while Williams only had four, she also beat out Williams in the category of ground-strokes where Williams had 24 to Marino’s 27. The major deciding factor in this game was unforced errors; Marino had 23 while Williams had 12. It’s something that comes with experience and ones ability to manage their nerves. Another key factor is their service speed. Marino hit at around 110mph, which is impressive, but just a little shy of Williams’ 115mph.
This was Marino’s first foray into the tennis big time, and she conducted herself quite admirably. When speaking of her experience later that day Marino eloquently states: “Playing against her shows that it’s really not as far as you think it is, or it’s not as scary or as daunting - not this big mystical area above and beyond the horizon. It’s actually attainable. That was nice; to actually prove to myself that I can play like this.”
Here’s what Venus thought of her young rival: “I was very impressed. She’s got a good future ahead of her.”
This may have been Rebecca Marino’s first experience in the world of competitive tennis, but judging by her poise and her talent, it won’t be her last. Until the next time we see her making a dent in the big leagues, let’s keep our eyes on her and keep her name close to our lips. She’s prone to stepping up when she has to, and at least the next time she shocks the world with her prowess you’ll be able to say that you already knew the name of Rebecca Marino.
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