Five things to know: Marino's triumphant return

The final day of Australian Open qualifying wrapped up on Wednesday in Doha and Dubai with 16 men and 16 women earning charter flight tickets to the Melbourne bubble.

One of the qualifiers is a familiar name, Rebecca Marino, a 30-year-old Canadian once ranked inside the Top 40.

Let's get caught up on her remarkable story:

1

Marino played her first professional event in 2005 and broke through in 2010, which is when she made her Grand Slam debut, at the US Open. She'd qualify and win a round before challenging Venus Williams in the second round, gaining global attention.

2

She made her Top 100 debut in January of 2011 and then skyrocketed up the rankings to No. 38 while appearing in her first WTA final, in Memphis.

3

Less than two years later in 2013, Marino left the tour at the tender age of 22 citing burnout and fatigue. Later, she would revealshe was diagnosed with depression and struggled with the social media abuse that comes with tennis fame. She returned home to British Columbia, signed up for college classes and joined the rowing team.

4

After her father Joseph was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017 (he would pass away in 2020), Marino took stock of her life and decided she wanted him to see her compete again. She'd win her first 19 matches back at the ITF level in 2018 and would appear in the Australian Open qualifying draw as well as Fed Cup in 2019.

5

A left foot injury (a plantar fascia tear) and the pandemic kept her off the court from summer 2019 through all of 2020. Her first match back since July 2019 was the qualifying event in Dubai this month. She'd beat Jaqueline Cristine, Viktoriya Tomova and Maryna Zanevska, all in straight sets.

Next month in Melbourne will mark the world No. 312's first Grand Slam main-draw appearance since the 2013 Australian Open.