Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ontario came through with an impressive 6-2, 6-4 upset win over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia in the first round of the Guadalajara Open in Mexico on Tuesday. Stakusic, at 19 years of age, is ranked 155th in the world, while Schmiedlova is ranked 98th.
Stakusic delivered five aces compared to two for Schmiedlova. Stakusic also made the most of her opportunities, as she broke Schmiedlova four times in four chances.
This was Stakusic’s third WTA Tour win of the season. She previously beat Marina Melnikova of Russia, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 in the first round of the San Diego Open on February 26, and then upset the 68th ranked player in the world, Erika Andreeva of Russia 6-7, 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of the 2024 National Bank Open in Toronto, Ontario on August 7. Stakusic was one of two Canadians to win their first round match at the National Bank Open. The other was Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal, Quebec, who beat Nao Hibino of Japan 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.
You could make the argument that it has been a little bit of a disappointing season for Stakusic. The bottom line is a little more was expected after her outstanding performance at the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup in November, where she upset Rebeka Masarova of Spain 6-3, 6-1, current world number 43 Magdalena Frech of Poland 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, and 2022 French Open semifinalist and current world number 99 Martina Trevisan of Italy 7-5, 6-3.
In the second round on Thursday in Guadalajara, Stakusic will now face the world number 12, Guadalajara’s number one seed, and the 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia. This will be their first ever meeting head to head.
