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Marcela Zacarias, who portrayed former World No. 1 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the film King Richard, recorded her first-ever main-draw win on the WTA tour at the 2022 Monterrey Open. For those unaware, King Richard is a biopic about Venus and Serena Williams' father Richard Williams.
Zacarias played her first match on the ITF circuit way back in 2008 and has since managed to win 16 titles. However, she has not enjoyed similar success on the WTA tour.
Before her first-round match against Emma Navarro in Monterrey, the Mexican had played in the main draw of four WTA tournaments, all of them in her home country and all of them with the help of a wildcard. But she never managed to reach the next round. Overall, she had played 24 matches on the WTA tour before her encounter with Navarro, winning five (all of them in the first round of qualifying) and losing 19.
All that changed for Marcela Zacarias on Monday. Ranked six places below Navarro at No. 208, Zacarias won the first set 6-1. After losing the second set in a tie-break, the wildcard held her nerve in the deciding set to take the match 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-3.
The 27-year-old will face fifth seed Camila Osorio in the second round. The Colombian prevailed over Poland's Magdalena Frech in her opener in straight sets. Camila Osorio will also be the highest-ranked opponent the Mexican has faced in her career.
Marcela Zacarias was once ranked World No. 7 on the junior circuit
Marcela Zacarias was once a promising junior, reaching a career-high ranking of World No. 7 on the ITF juniors circuit. She won four singles titles in the 2012 season (six overall) and reached the second round of the French Open and Wimbledon girls' singles.
At the US Open girls' singles, Zacarias was seeded 16th and reached as far as the third round before falling to top seed Taylor Townsend.
On the WTA tour, the Mexican has appeared in the qualifying rounds of two Grand Slams to date and is yet to reach the main draw. She lost to Alexandra Panova in the first round of qualifying at the 2016 Australian Open, where she was in the same draw as four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka. Osaka went on to make her main-draw debut at the Melbourne Slam.
The 27-year-old's best result in a Major came at the US Open the previous year, where she reached the second round of qualifying. Zacarias defeated Richel Hogenkamp but lost to Ysaline Bonaventure.
