For Rebecca Marino it was her father’s cancer diagnoses that inspired her return to the tour after stepping away from the sport due to depression.
Seven years ago the Canadian was a regular fixture on the women’s tour as she peaked at a ranking best of 38th in 2011. Despite her limited success in the grand slams, she has previously illustrated her talent. Reaching the final of the 2011 US Indoor Tennis Championships in Memphis. She also previously recorded wins over players such as Marion Bartoli, Timea Bacsinszky and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
In her early 20s it appeared that Marino was on course for a long and successful career on the tour. That was until she retired from the sport at the age of 22 in 2013 after being diagnosed with clinical depression.
“It was probably the worst I’ve ever felt in my entire life,” Marino told The Telegraph in an exclusive interview. “It was a really dark place. I had no confidence and felt tiny, which is funny because I’m 6ft 2in. I thought I would never touch a racket again.”
The isolation of being a tennis player was what took its toll. Travelling along on the tour is one many struggle with. Especially those positioned lower in the rankings that can’t afford a team to back them up. The problem has been documented in recent years, but for Marino it didn’t hit home until she experienced it first hand.
“I didn’t fully comprehend what the lifestyle of a tennis player was until I was in it, and that was pretty overwhelming,” she said.
“The fact that you’re one against one and constantly comparing yourself to all these other girls. You try and be friendly with them but they’re also your opponents so you can’t really know who your friends are. Even though I was surrounded by people I felt like I was alone.”
The comeback
The years went by and many assumed that it would be the last they heard of Marino. That was until last year when she returned to competitive tennis at the age of 27. Working her way back into the sport via the ITF tour, she is once again illustrating her talent. At the start of this year she won three consecutive ITF $15,000 titles in Turkey. Following on from that, she recently reached the final of a Japanese $25,000 tournament. Losing in straight sets to Destanee Aiava.
Marino’s decision to return to a lifestyle that first triggered her depression was inspired by her father Joe. He was diagnosed with cancer last year in what was a stern wake-up call.
“My dad, Joe, was diagnosed with prostate cancer last February, and it put a lot of things in perspective for me in terms of mortality,” she said. “It made me realise that life is short, and I should just go out and do things for me, and not really care about what anyone else thinks. Because life is short and ‘F it,’ basically.
“I’m still young enough to give it a go so how about I just try? If it doesn’t work that’s ok. I can at least say I’ve tried, even if I fail I’ll still go out with a different feeling from last time.”
Currently ranked 564th in the world, Marino is making a careful climb up the rankings. Everything appears to be going in the right direction as she puts her dark days behind her. Some may be concerned about the depression returning, but she is confident that she will be kept on track with the help of her friends and her team.
“Part of me is a little apprehensive that maybe I could go back to that but I know I have people around me,” she admits.
Going in to this week, Marino has achieved a win-loss record of 21-3 so far in 2018.
