ANTALYA, Turkey — Canadian Rebecca Marino defeated Romania’s Cristina Ene 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday to win the GD Tennis Cup title in her first tournament in five years.
The 27-year-old from Vancouver stepped away from tennis in Feb. 2013, revealing that she had been struggling with depression for several years.
Marino won three qualifying matches, then five more in the main draw to win the ITF Tennis Grade 4 tournament.
She needed just 59 minutes to dispatch her 22-year-old opponent in the final, firing 11 aces and winning 95 per cent of her first-service points.
"Rebecca worked very hard to be ready to return to competition," said Sylvain Bruneau, Tennis Canada’s national women’s coach and Fed Cup captain. "It’s not easy to come back after such a long time away, but she showed this week that her efforts in her training were well worth it.
"She wanted to play a lot to find her comfort level again in match play and that’s what she was able to do this week. It’s just the first step, but this is obviously a very positive start."
Marino achieved a career-high WTA ranking of 38 in 2011. She won three ITF Pro Circuit titles in the fall of 2010 and reached her first WTA final in Memphis in 2011.
Ene, seeded seventh at the Tennis Cup tournament, is ranked 673rd in the world.
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