Every year, the WTA Tour produces some exciting young talents who create big waves in the tennis world. The likes of Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff are among them, who have gone on to become Grand Slam champions. As the US Open Swing gets underway, there is another exciting talent who has become the talk of the town. Her name is Marina Stakusic, the 19-year-old WTA sensation. But is she Candian or Serbian?

Stakusic is making her main draw debut at the National Bank Open and she has made a bright start. The 19-year-old defeated Erika Andreeva in three sets to set up a clash with Taylor Townsend of the United States. While she is a Canadian national, Stakusic’s parents are of European descent.

Her father was born and brought up in Montenegro and moved to Canada when he was 25. On the other hand, her mother was born in Canada to parents who emigrated from Serbia. Stakusic was born and brought up in Canada and none of her family members were into tennis. During her childhood, Stakusic’s parents bought Walmart rackets for her and her brother and subsequently put her brother into tennis coaching. She followed her brother’s footsteps and started pursuing the sport in earnest. Look where that has brought her today!

Interestingly, Stakusic is a big fan of Novak Djokovic. She grew up watching him play and even watched Djokovic live at the Canadian Open. Talking about her interactions with the Serbian legend, Stakusic said, “I used to come here all the time, pretty much every year since I was like six, seven years old. I remember getting two of Novak Djokovic’s racquets when he won in 2012. That was, like, the coolest thing ever for me and my siblings. He just tossed them up after he won.”

Further, Stakusic is eager to dig deep in her debut main draw appearance at the National Bank Open. For this, she recollected Djokovic’s words from last year, which have been motivating her ever since.

Marina Stakusic is manifesting her destiny

Back in 2023, the Serbian legend won the French Open. Following his victory, he made a reference to his self-belief which always kept him going. During an interview, Stakusic revealed how Djokovic’s words motivated her to reach this level.

She said, “I remember he said, ‘You can kind of create your own future and the outcome.’ So I listened to that. Since then, I tried to do visualization (work) a lot. Throughout the years, all of my coaches have pretty much said (visualization training) helps and works because your brain can’t really tell the difference between if you’re actually playing or if you’re sitting there, focusing, and picturing yourself playing.”

The Canadian sensation will have her task cut out against Taylor Townsend in the second round of the National Bank Open. Can she dig deep in the tournament? Let us know your views in the comments below.