Rebecca Marino steps back from professional tennis
Posted February 20, 2013 3:54 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MONTREAL, PQ (NEWS1130) – Canadian tennis player Rebecca Marino announced today that she has decided to step away from her career in professional tennis, however, she did not want to call it a retirement.
The Vancouver native reached as high as no. 38 in the world rankings in July of 2011.
Marino has not ruled out a future in tennis.
“At this point I feel the terminology ‘stepping back’ is probably better than saying retiring because who knows at what point I may come back to tennis.”
The 22-year-old took a seven month break from the game beginning in February, 2012. She captured the singles title at the $25,000 Rock Hill Challenger in just her fifth tournament back.
Marino also cited an ongoing bout with depression as a reason for her decision. She says it was at its worst when she took her seven month break last year, but has gotten better since then.
“To this day I still struggle with my depression, but I am doing far better than before,” says Marino. “I am opening up because I would like to get rid of the stigma attached not only to depression, but also mental illnesses both in the public and in professional sports.”
While she says the depression did play a part in her decision, she ultimately decided to step away from the game because she felt her level of play wasn’t where it needed to be to continue.
