KEY POINTS:
Getting back into the world's top 50 will be a primary goal for New Zealand tennis No 1 Marina Erakovic over the coming months.
Erakovic, 20, heads into the season-opening ASB Classic, which starts in her home town of Auckland today, as the world No 66 and the undoubted crowd favourite.
Her ranking is almost 100 places above where she was a year ago when, as a wildcard, she produced a stirring run to the semifinals, beating top-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva along the way.
There were further good results on the WTA Tour over the following six months, including semifinal appearances in Memphis and Birmingham and a brace of wins at Wimbledon.
The ranking points she accumulated took her as high as No 49 in early July.
However, an unbroken run of eight first-round defeats since then has seen her slip back.
"At the moment, I'm really keen to get into the top 50 again," Erakovic said.
"I've got a lot of points to defend now, so I'll be focusing a lot on the tournaments coming up."
However, the draw for the Classic has presented her with a stiff challenge if she is to repeat her heroics of last January.
If she gets past her first-up opponent, diminutive Spaniard Nuria Llagostera Vives, also ranked in the 60s, Erakovic is set to face top seed Elena Dementieva in the second round.
The Russian, the world No 4, is the highest ranked player in the tournament's history.
Erakovic was philosophical about the draw, saying it was a case of taking one match at a time.
She was also doing her best to erase thoughts of her sequence of first-round exits from her mind.
"Obviously I know I've had a few losses in a row and I would like to block it out, but it's there," she said.
"Once you start rolling again, it feels better, but definitely now I'm just focusing on my game, playing the matches and just staying healthy."
On the issue of health, she said she was getting over a foot injury that has hampered her preparations for the new season.
"It's nearly 100 per cent," she said.
"I don't feel it when I'm playing at all, which is great so I think it's going to hold up fine. It's just a matter of getting used to the tournament conditions and the matches."
Despite the ups and downs, there's no disputing that 2008 overall was a great year for Erakovic.
After from her singles successes early on, she also claimed her first three WTA Tour doubles titles.
They came at Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, Tokyo and Luxembourg, with three different partners - Dutchwoman Michaella Krajicek, American Jill Craybas and Romanian Sorana Cirstea.
Erakovic and Craybas, who also reached the semifinals in Seoul, have teamed again for the Classic.
"I really like to play with her," Erakovic said of Craybas, who is 14 years her senior.
"She's great and we have a lot of laughs on court."
- NZPA
