at the Challenge Bell, Marino reached the second round for the second straight year with a win over Lauren Albanese, but lost her next match to Julia Görges. 2010: Breakthrough Marino played the first Grand Slam of her career at the US Open in August. After winning three qualifying matches to enter the main draw, she beat Ksenia Pervak to set up a second round clash with world No. 4, Venus Williams. She lost after a close first set which ended in a tiebreak. After the match, Venus said: "It seemed like every time I had an opening she came up with a big serve, so I guess I know what it is like now playing myself." Her next tournament was in Quebec City at the Challenge Bell in September where she beat fellow Canadian Heidi El Tabakh in the first round. Marino upset first seeded and world No. 14, Marion Bartoli, in straight sets in the second round, which was her first career win against a top-20 player. She lost her quarterfinal match against Bethanie Mattek-Sands. She then stayed in the province of Québec and played a $50k in Saguenay the following week. Marino made it to the final and defeated Alison Riske in three tough sets to win the tournament, the second singles title of her career. She won her second straight $50k two weeks later in Kansas City by defeating Edina Gallovits in the final. The next week, Marino won her third straight $50k in Troy where she defeated Ashley Weinhold. In November, she lost in the semifinals of the $50K in Toronto against Alizé Lim, stopping her winning streak at 18. 2011: First WTA final and career-high ranking of No. 38 At the Australian Open in January, Marino defeated Junri Namigata in the first round. She lost in the second round against sixth seed Francesca Schiavone with a score of 7–9 in the final set. In February, Marino reached her first WTA final at the event in Memphis, where she faced Magdaléna Rybáriková. She was forced to retire from the match after losing the first set because of an abdominal strain. Marino qualified for the Indian Wells Open in March, but lost in the first round to Ekaterina Makarova. Following her first round exit, Marino took part in the inaugural $100k Bahamas Women's Open. As the fourth seed, she defeated qualifier Sophie Ferguson in the first