Marina Stakusic vs Anna Blinkova: Tampico Final Analysis (WTA 125)
Teenager Stakusic secured her biggest singles title to date as her forehand excelled under pressure
Canadian 19-year-old Marina Stakusic (WTA #147) showed once again that maturity and a superior ability to deal with pressure situations are among her best traits.
After coming through qualifying, Stakusic won all 8 sets decided by 2 or fewer games she played in the main draw (exactly 2 per match, from the second round to the final) to capture her biggest individual title yet, at WTA 125 Abierto Tampico.
It was the sort of performance that reminded us all of her heroics at last year’s Billie Jean King Cup finals. On that occasion, despite being ranked #258 and having very little Tour-level experience, Stakusic got the nod to replace Bianca Andreescu as the no. 2 singles player for Canada. No experience, no problem, as the teenager became an unexpected vital element to Canada’s first BJK Cup victory, finishing with a 3-1 record in Seville that included a win over Italy’s Martina Trevisan to start off the Final.
At the time, Stakusic arrived in Spain with a lack of prior big-stage exposure but on a 17-1 run and 3 titles in her previous 5 ITF World Tour events. A successful sequence that quickly eclipsed the fact she had missed the first 6 months of the 2023 season with a torn patellar tendon in her knee.
One year later, in the Tampico championship match, Stakusic extended her 100% record in career singles finals to 4-0, across all pro levels, with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 triumph over 5-seed Anna Blinkova (WTA #99). A result that ended Blinkova’s unbeaten streak at 9 matches and denied her bid for back-to-back titles, following last week’s win at ITF W100 Macon.
The first break of the Tampico final went to Blinkova, in the 3rd game, and she grew her lead to 3-1 with 3 unreturned serves. Stakusic responded with 14 winners across the next 6 games to transform the early deficit into a 6-4 opening set win.
The second set began with players trading breaks for the first 4 games. Blinkova broke again in the 5th game, starting a 6-game run that brought her the second set and a 2-0 lead in the decider.
Stakusic stopped the sequence and levelled at 2-2 with a backhand passing winner. A few games later, the Canadian hit a forehand winner to recover once more from a break down.
With the score now tied at 4-4, the 9th game turned into a 14-minute, 7-Deuce, 20-point nail-biter. During it, Blinkova held 4 non-consecutive break point chances. Remarkably, Stakusic saved the first 3 with nerveless forehand winners.
→ set 3, 4-4 40/Ad (Blinkova BP #1)
→ set 3, 4-4 40/Ad (Blinkova BP #2)
→ set 3, 4-4 40/Ad (Blinkova BP #3)
Blinkova overhit a forehand return on the 4th break point and Stakusic eventually held, for a 5-4 lead.
Out of 17 games that featured break point opportunities, this was the only time in the match the server was able to rescue the game and hold!
With the pressure shifting to Blinkova, at 30/30 she went for a sliding Deuce court serve that had already extracted 6 forehand return errors from Stakusic. However, all but one of those errors had been in first set; as the match progressed, Stakusic grew accostumed to those deliveries. Blinkova couldn’t angle her 2nd serve wide enough and Stakusic fired a return winner that set up championship match.
→ set 3, 4-5 30/30
It was the 7th and final return winner for Stakusic. In fact, the teenager wouldn’t hit another ball as Blinkova double faulted on the next point, ending a tight and hard-fought final.
Stakusic finished with 43 winners and a +6 differential between winners and unforced errors.
Blinkova’s numbers weren’t as good, 32 winners and 40 unforced errors for a -8 differential, but she did a great job at inducing 15 more forced errors during rallies (24 to 9).
Stakusic’s backhand groundstroke was hot at the start, then her firepower shifted to the forehand side. Stakusic struck 10 forehand winners in the deciding set, to end with 22.
Blinkova was also more active from the forehand side. Remarkably, she ended with almost the same numbers of winners and unforced errors as well as forcing shots and forced errors, for each groundstroke wing.
Marina Stakusic (WTA #147, qualifier) vs Anna Blinkova (WTA #99, seed 5)
2024 Tampico Final - Match Data
Set by Set Stats
Strategy Stats
Points Won by Rally Length
Rally Length
Winners and errors (returns and rally shots)
Direction of winning shots and unforced errors (only groundstrokes)
Serve and Return
1st Serves
2nd Serves
Return & rallying performance
Points won breakdown
This final section gives a last, broader look at the match by presenting how each player won points. Points are listed according to their frequency (highest to lowest) and are named in relation to the last touch on the ball. For simplicity, groundstrokes hit from the 5th shot onwards are grouped together.
Breakdown by side (FHs or BHs)
Breakdown by error type (UFEs or FEs)
To find out more about the stats published here, please visit the following post.
While we follow the same criteria used on all major tennis events, our stats are collected through our own video analysis and are not official WTA or ITF stats.
Thanks for reading!
— Tennis Inside Numbers