Marino Reaches Singles Semifinals; Fichman and Dabrowski Take the Doubles Title in Tennis

For the fourth straight year, an all-Canadian team has captured the $50,000 Tevlin Challenger doubles title as Sharon Fichman (Toronto) and Gabriela Dabrowski (Ottawa) defeated Brittany Augustine and Alexandra Mueller of the United States in the final 6-4, 6-0 on Friday. In singles, No. 1 seed Rebecca Marino (Vancouver) will be the lone Canadian competing in the semifinals as she defeated Caroline Garcia of France 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarter-finals. Richmond Hill, Ontario’s Carol Zhao fell in the quarter-finals to Alize Lim of France 6-4, 6-4.

Marino, Canada’s No. 1 ranked player, started off slow, dropping the first set by not dictating the play enough. In the second set she was settled on court and relied heavily on her booming serve to even the score. Garcia was unable to regain the momentum and Marino came back to close it out in three sets. It was Marino`s 18^th consecutive singles victory as she came into Toronto having won her three previous tournaments.

“It is always great playing in Canada in front of your home crowd,” said Marino. “I started a little slow today and it took me the first set to find my rhythm. She was stepping in on both my first and second serve, which girls don’t normally do, but then it all came together and I got the win.”

Marino will try to keep the streak alive on Saturday against Lim. The other semifinal match-up will feature No. 7 seed Heather Watson from Great Britain who defeated Lauren Albanese of the United States 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Watson will be up against Sloane Stephens of the United States. Stephens ousted Jelena Pandzic of Croatia in a straight set quarter-final match, 6-2, 6-4.

The doubles championship match between the Canadians and the Americans started off close, but once Fichman and Dabrowski captured the first set they had no trouble keeping their level up to win the second set without dropping a game. It is the second time that this duo has captured the Tevlin Challenger doubles title as they won the championship together in 2007.

“We are both really excited to play doubles and I think our personalities on and off the court are very similar,” said Fichman. “We feed off each other and I think our game styles complement each other. Everything seems to click when we play together. I know I enjoy myself and I think Gabby does too.”

Saturday’s semifinal matches and Sunday`s final will be webcast live at LoveMeansNothing.ca. The semifinals will begin at at 11 a.m. ET with Marino’s match on first. All matches are played at the Tennis Canada Centre of Excellence, the indoor facility located next to the Rexall Centre in Toronto. Admission is free.

The Tevlin Challenger was founded by Tennis Matters benefactors Michael and Nicole Tevlin of Toronto as part of a generous high performance pledge. This year marks the sixth edition of the tournament and its third at the $50,000 prize money level.