MARIA HAD IT COMING
Kiwi ace Marina Erakovic blasts under-fire Sharapova
It’s been a tough start to the year for Marina Erakovic, but she’s not focused on anything other than getting back on track for next month’s French Open.
The 29-year-old, who’s flown the flag on her own for New Zealand tennis in singles for the past decade, is at 104 in the world rankings and will fall further when the points she picked up for making the final in Rabat, Morocco, last May come off her tally.
Erakovic, who has a career-high ranking of 39, will be able to play in the main draw at Roland Garros, which starts on May 22, but have to battle through qualifying at Wimbledon. That’s not a complete disaster as last year Erakovic won five matches on her way to the round of 32 in the main draw.
But at this stage in her career Erakovic could do without being in that fringe area where it’s touch and go whether she’ll get to play at the lucrative Grand Slams.
‘‘It’s been tough going, not just not winning many matches, and I’ll be honest that hasn’t been great,’’ Erakovic reflected last week, during a short visit back to New Zealand before she plays in the Nuremberg WTA tournament in a fortnight.
‘‘But I’ve had a few niggles. I was supposed to play two more tournaments in the States, to try to get into the main draw of Wimbledon, but I had a neck issue and couldn’t rotate it properly.
‘‘It started at Indian Wells and came on again in Miami. In Miami I got a viral infection and I’ve also been having lower back issues.
‘‘I was patching things up then trying to play, so I decided to come home early to recover.
‘‘It’s good that I’m main draw for the French, but not that I have to play qualifying for Wimbledon, but that’s the way it is.’’
Erakovic plans to play three small grass court Challenger level tournaments between the French Open and Wimbledon, in Surbiton, Manchester and Ilkley and then Wimbledon qualifying.
Being ranked 104 means Erakovic has to be more creative with her schedule, looking for WTA tournaments where she has a better chance of making the main draw and mixing it up with ITF events.
‘‘I’m not getting any younger, but I know that I play good tennis and I’ve been there before.
‘‘It’s like any job, you have tough times and better times and it’s a matter of ploughing through it and keep playing.
‘‘I’m still not playing Challengers constantly, I’m qualifying, I’m playing WTA level tournaments.
‘‘It will be nice to break back into the top 100 and I have to look at rankings now a bit, but I will drop again to about 130-150 once those points [from Rabat] come off.’’
She has earned US$61,581 in prizemoney this year, not a bad amount for the average 29-year-old to pick up over four months, but out of this she has to pay for her
It’s been tough going, not just not winning many matches, and I’ll be honest that hasn’t been great. Marina Erakovic
travel, plus that of her coach, Wesley Whitehouse, as well as his salary and expenses.
‘‘A couple of good results last year helped me to fund some of my stuff, but it has been tough,’’ she said. ‘‘People forget that I pay for all of my expenses and even on the Player Council, something I often say is that if you’re outside the top 60-70, you’re breaking even or losing money.’’
Straight after Wimbledon is the Fed Cup, with New Zealand playing in the Asia/Oceania group 2 in Tajikistan.
It’s the first time New Zealand have entered a team in the Fed Cup for three years, so they’re starting at rock bottom.
Given the lack of quality women tennis players in the country, New Zealand’s chances of promotion hinge on whether Erakovic plays, but at the moment she’s not sure if she’ll make herself available.
‘‘The main question for me is how I’m doing physically,’’ she said. ‘‘At the moment I’m still recovering from my neck and I’m having these issues, so travelling is a big issue for me and the less I do the better. I’d like to play, because we need to break out of that group and establish some sort of Fed Cup team again.’’