Canada’s Stakusic loses to Christian in opening round: Out of NBO

Canada’s Marina Stakusic put up a valiant effort, but ultimately fell to Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round of the National Bank Open on Sunday.

The 142nd-ranked Stakusic, in her fourth appearance at the NBO, was making her main draw debut in Montreal after bowing out in the second round of last year’s tournament, held in Toronto.

The 20-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., got off to a strong start, breaking Cristian in the Romanian’s very first service game to go up 2-0 in the opening set. The Canadian broke her opponent again in the eighth game to take the opening set 6-2.

Cristian wasted little time, however, getting on the board in the second set, breaking Stakusic at love in the opening game. The Romanian, currently ranked a career-high 49th in the WTA rankings, would go on to break her opponent twice more as she evened the match at a set apiece.

The third set played out almost identically to that of the second, with Cristian taking the opening game on Stakusic’s serve. The Bucharest native then broke twice more on her way to her first-ever win in her first career appearance at the NBO.

Cristian will now play Czechia’s Linda Noskova in the second round. Noskova, the 20th seed of the tournament, is coming off a runner-up finish at the Prague Open, where she lost Saturday to compatriot Marie Bouzkova in three sets.