Canada’s Marino, Stakusic reach semifinals of Abierto Tampico

Canada’s Rebecca Marino is on a nice little roll.

Marino, from Vancouver, booked a spot in the semifinals of the WTA Tour’s Abierto Tampico in Mexico with a 6-2, 6-3 win over No. 8 seed Maya Joint of Australia on Thursday.

Marino, 33, has won eight matches in a row after capturing the title at the Calgary National Bank Challenger last week.

Marino will be joined in this tournament’s semifinals by fellow Canadian Marina Stakusic.

The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., rallied to beat Lucrezia Stefanini of Italy 0-6, 6-4, 7-5 in another quarterfinal.

Marino will face No. 5 seed Anna Blinkova of Russia in the semifinals, while Stakusic will meet No. 6 seed Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain.

The Abierto Tampico is a WTA 125 event, the lowest tour-level designation.

Marino is ranked second in Canada and 118th in the world. Stakusic is third in Canada and the world No. 140.