The world of professional tennis has seen many promising careers interrupted, often due to personal or external challenges such as injury, family or financial problems. However, many players have also found strength in challenging times to make impressive comebacks to the sport. One of them is Rebecca Marino, who once was the Canadian No. 1 player but she had to overcome bullying and depression to find joy in tennis again.
Born December 16, 1990, was touted as a rising star when she burst onto the tennis scene. She made her Grand Slam main draw debut at the 2010 US Open, and had a strong performance against Venus Williams in the second round. Venus herself remarked, “I guess I know what it’s like now playing myself,” acknowledging Marino’s talent despite her 7-6 (3), 6-3 loss.
By 2011, Marino’s career was on the ascent, reaching her first WTA final in Memphis and advancing to the third round of Roland Garros. Her great performance earned her the honor of Female Player of the Year from Tennis Canada in 2010 and 2011. However, the pressure of professional sports can sometimes overshadow its triumphs.
Marino was getting caught in the negativity of aggressive messages from bettors, which exacerbated her mental health struggles. She decided to take a break in 2012. In an interview with The New York Times in 2013, she described herself as a sensitive person, saying, “With professional athletes, people put them on a pedestal sometimes, and they forget that they’re actually still a person.”
Marino celebrates while playing at the 2024 Australian Open (Morgan Hancock/Getty Images)
Taking a break from tennis due to mental health struggles
The decision to leave tennis was not one Marino made lightly. Feeling isolated during a time when mental health was not widely discussed in sports, she delivered a TED Talk to shed light on her experiences and the stigma surrounding athlete mental health.
“At the time, I felt like I was sort of alone and even a little misunderstood,” Marino shared at the Citi Open in 2022, via Tennis.com. She was one of the first players to talk about those struggles, paving the way for other athletes such as Naomi Osaka.
“I’m really proud of how far things have come,” she said about the importance of ongoing conversations facilitated by organizations like the WTA. While she tried to come back to tennis, in 2013, at only 22 years old, she was “retired.”
Marino reacts against Lin Zhu of China in the Women’s Singles Quarter Final match during Day Seven of the Rothesay Classic Birmingham ( Stephen Pond/Getty Images for LTA)
During her hiatus, she studied English Literature at the University of British Columbia where she was also part of the rowing team. “I’m doing things I love now. I wouldn’t change it,” she told the CBC in 2016. While she said that she was at peace with her tennis career, it didn’t take long for her to take the racket one more time.
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Comeback
Marino began re-engaging with the sport in 2018, but it wasn’t until the post-pandemic era that she made significant strides on the WTA circuit. In 2021, she claimed victory at the Australian Open and upset top player Paula Badosa at the National Bank Open, and then had a pivotal role alongside Leylah Fernandez in securing the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup for Canada.
Marino playing for Canada at the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup (Angel Martinez/Getty Images for ITF)
By 2024, Marino capitalized on her momentum by winning the Dow Tennis Classic WTA 125 event in Michigan. “I sometimes call this Career 2.0,” she explained. “There was a before, an after, and a huge chunk of time that’s passed in between,” she told Tennis.com in 2022.
Marino’s story is another example of how social media can be a double-edged sword for athletes. Yes, it is a powerful tool for connection, but it can also become an echo chamber of our darker thoughts about ourselves. However, as Marino found out, we are not defined by our worst outcomes, but by how we come back.
