Marin's last tournament of the year was off to a good start. 

In the first round of Italian International the first seed Carolina Marin was facing Martina Repiska from Slovakia. In 26 minutes, the reigning Olympic champion had defeated Repiska 21-14 21-11 and can look forward to the next match which will be against Fabienne Deprez from Germany. 

- I feel very happy to be here in Italy, because I have good memories here. 10 years ago, I won an U19 tournament and I remember how I played here and all those things. I perform very good at the moment and I feel happy. I am looking forward to playing the next match, Marin said. 

Lots of players at the Italian International say that the shuttles are quite fast and can be hard to control. But for Marin it is no different than playing in Asia. 

- The shuttles are a little fast, mainly when you get a new shuttle. But I will try to control it like I do when I play in Asia with the drift.

As the Race for Tokyo is still on, a win here for Carolina Marin would be great as she is still climbing the ranking to get the best possible seeding for the Olympics in Tokyo. 

 - I would like to win here, and the main goal is to win this tournament. But I have to keep my focus on every match. 

For full results and fixtures, click here.