Marina Erakovic has risen to No 64 in the world tennis rankings. Photo / AP
Tennis New Zealand (TNZ) has a made a public plea to the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) for Marina Erakovic to be included in the team for the Beijing Games.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) overnight finalised the ranking cut-off for the Olympic Games in August at 67
for women.
It prompted TNZ to submit an Olympic entry form to the NZOC for Erakovic, whose ranking has soared to 64.
TNZ has asked the NZOC to sign the form and forward it to the ITF, a process that must be completed by June 23 before the ITF confirms its Olympic field.
The NZOC's selection criteria in most sports is that athletes must prove they have top-16 capability.
TNZ chief executive Steve Walker today issued a press release outlining why the NZOC should look past its criteria and select 20-year-old Erakovic for Beijing.
It emphasises her spectacular rise up the rankings from 160 just five months ago.
In that time she has made two semifinal appearances at WTA level events, including a victory over Russian world No 13 Vera Zvonereva and competitive losses to former American world No 1s Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams.
She performed well in her Grand Slam debut at the recent French Open, winning her debut match against a Italian claycourt exponent Tathiana Garbin before pushing world No 3 Jelena Jankovic in the second round.
Walker believed Erakovic was a realistic top-16 prospect but asked the NZOC to look beyond that criteria such as it did by selecting the women's soccer team despite their limited prospects.
Erakovic won a US$50,000 ($67,303) grass court tournament in London last month and this morning won her first round match in the DFS Classic tournament in Birmingham, beating 79th-ranked Canadian Stephani Dubois 6-4 6-4.
- NZPA
