Erakovic in tune for court return
He was somehow allowed to continue, seemingly cleared of concussion after a few questions from the team doctor, despite his head snapping back upon impact. In most other contact sports he would have been required to leave the field for a proper assessment.
Michael McGlinchey replaced Singh in the 68th minute to register his 200th A-League appearance. Substitutes don’t come much more symbolic.
The result could have been disastrous for the Phoenix had Castro not fluffed his lines from the penalty spot seven minutes from time.
The penalty win was a touch controversial, as he surged into the box and laid off for Andy Keogh, only to collide with defender Scott Galloway. Keogh still got his shot away, but referee Alex King called play back and pointed to the penalty spot.
Castro then dinked a shocker of a penalty straight into Velaphi’s arms.
Then Lowry scored his own goal, deflecting a Krishna cross into his own net.
The win, the Phoenix’s fourth in 20 games this season, takes them above the Central Coast Mariners into ninth, while they are now two points behind the eight-placed Glory, who have won just one of their last eight games. Marina Erakovic’s hobby project of making music may be going great guns, but getting back on a tennis court remains her top priority.
Under her pseudonym, The Mad Era, Erakovic’s six-song EP Incognito has just been released on iTunes and Spotify.
Musically, it’s reminiscent of the Breeders and Liz Phair and it shows another side to New Zealand’s top tennis player over the last decade.
Erakovic put her songs onto the music streaming services as she goes through the process of recovering from a serious back injury, which pretty much ruined 2017 for her.
She had a horrendously tough start to the year. Her first three losses were against Jelena Ostapenko, Garbine Mugaruza and Caroline Garcia, players currently ranked inside the top seven in the world.
Then injuries came and meant that despite some good results during the grass court part of the season, she never got going and she also had to miss last month’s ASB Classic for the first time since 2006.
At the age of 29, Erakovic made the decision last November that there wasn’t any point playing injured and she needed a complete break.
Three months on, she’s feeling better and contemplating a return to tennis again.
‘‘I won’t really have a gauge [my return] until I’ve done a few runs over the next couple of weeks,’’ Erakovic said.
‘‘For me, it’s been just rest, my back feels better now. But I’m not travelling or sitting on a plane for a long time.
‘‘This isn’t a quick fix, it’s taking time and it’s going to be baby steps.’’
So when could she be back? ‘‘There isn’t a start date, I’ll play it by how it goes. I’m hoping that after March I can start playing again, but it’s not guaranteed.’’
Erakovic turns 30 next month. That’s no longer an age where a tennis players are regarded as being well past their best.
But Erakovic admits this current injury did make her contemplate whether it was time to chuck it in and do something else.
‘‘Plenty of times I’ve thought that,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s still in the back of my mind because nothing it guaranteed.
‘‘The only real main thing that’s pushing me on is that I know I still have some good tennis in me.
‘‘Even though last year was what it was, I still had some really good matches against good players. I know my level is still good.
‘‘Do I want to give it away? Absolutely, it’s something I think about.
‘‘But I’m taking it day by day.’’ As for her music, Erakovic says she’s looking at releasing an album either later this year or in early 2019.
She’ll never be the next Lorde, although it would be amusing if she did a cover version of her hit Tennis Court.
But one of Erakovic’s songs on Incognito is tennis related, Pleasantville.
‘‘It’s about Indian Wells and I wrote that there,’’ she said. ‘‘I call Indian Wells Pleasantville because everything there is so perfect.
‘‘I would do these songs in my hotel room and would save the projects. I didn’t know what to call them, so I’d always call it after the city I was in.’’