Canadian teen Stakusic wins first career WTA 125 title in Tampico

Canadian 19-year-old Marina Stakusic notched the biggest title of her young career on Saturday at the WTA 125 Abierto Tampico in Tampico, Mexico.

A qualifier into the main draw, Stakusic upset No.5 seed Anna Blinkova 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in a grueling hard-court final to clinch her first WTA 125 trophy. Stakusic fought back from a third-set deficit before attaining victory after 2 hours and 43 minutes of play.

World No.140 Stakusic was down a break as late as 4-3 in the final set, but she broke former Top 35 player Blinkova at love to reach parity at 4-4. Stakusic then saved four break points in a tense hold for 5-4 before breaking Blinkova again for the win.

This week, Stakusic garnered seven wins (including two in qualifying), and she had to battle through the latter stages of the event. Stakusic was pushed into a 7-5 third set by Lucrezia Stefanini in the quarterfinals, and she eked out two tiebreak sets in her semifinal with Sara Sorribes Tormo.

The WTA 125 title rounds out a major rise for Stakusic over the last 12 months. Around this time last year, she skyrocketed to prominence by helping Canada win their very first Billie Jean King Cup. Ranked outside the Top 250 at the time, Stakusic went 3-1 in singles play there.

Stakusic backed up that performance in 2024, making her Grand Slam main-draw debut at Wimbledon and earning her first career Top 20 win over Jelena Ostapenko at Guadalajara.

Stakusic, who turns 20 in exactly one month, now heads to the WTA 250 event in Merida, Mexico. She will face fellow teenager Maya Joint of Australia in the opening round of the main draw.

There was additional Canadian success in the Abierto Tampico doubles draw. Canada’s Rebecca Marino paired with American Carmen Corley to take the doubles title, besting Alina Korneeva and Polina Kudermetova 6-3, 6-3 in Friday’s final.

In the all-unseeded final, Corley and Marino needed just 64 minutes to emerge victorious, after converting seven of their nine break points. It is the first WTA 125 doubles title for both of the victors.