Tennis: Early exit for Erakovic

Marina Erakovic. Photo / Brett Phibbs

New Zealand tennis player Marina Erakovic has exited early in her latest WTA Tour appearance.

She crashed out in the opening round of the Quebec Open in Canada today after falling 0-6 4-4 to Austrian qualifier Tamira Paszek.

It means Erakovic now needs to return to the second tier ITF circuit to rebuild her world ranking which has plummeted to 360th.

The Quebec tournament marked the last of eight WTA events she gained entry to via an injury protected ranking of 83rd, her ranking when she was forced off the tour for seven months last year by a hip injury.

By the time she returned her ranking had dropped to 240th and it has continued to fall as Erakovic has since been troubled by an ankle injury and more latterly a hand complaint, which saw her ditch plans to contest the doubles at last week's US Open at New York.

She reached a career-high ranking of 49th in 2008.

- NZPA