Canada's Rebecca Marino eager for 'electric feeling' of playing National Bank Open

Bright lights. Big opponents. Canadian fans chanting her name.

Rebecca Marino remembers every detail of her run at the 2021 National Bank Open.

"Having that first match with [American Madison] Keys on centre court, a night match, and I just remember the crowd being so encouraging and really pushing me to win that match," she said of the first-round victory. "It was just kind of like this electric feeling. I was like, 'Oh, I want more of that.'

"Those are the things you remember, more like the emotion and that sort of thing, not necessarily the points or like something specific that happened, but just that atmosphere."

It's a feeling Marino will look to recapture this weekend when she returns to the tournament in Montreal.

The 34-year-old Vancouver native received a wild-card spot in the main draw earlier this week and will be one of a record-high eight Canadian women competing at the hard-court event.

"It's very rare we get opportunities to compete in tournaments at home, and the National Bank Open is the largest event we have," she said. "So it's really just exciting to play at home, in front of family and friends there. It's really incredible."

The Canadian contingent includes a mix of up-and-coming players such as Carson Branstine and Victoria Mboko, and longtime favourites Leylah Fernandez, Bianca Andreescu and Genie Bouchard.

Bouchard recently announced that the tournament will be her last as a professional tennis player. Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., is also set to retire after the men's tournament in Toronto.

Both are players Marino has grown to know well during her career and, if a tribute video is played on the big screen, she expects to be among those in the stadium wiping tears from their eyes.

"It's