KEY POINTS:
The prospects of a local title to celebrate at the ASB Classic took a serious dive last night when top seeds Marina Erakovic and Jill Craybas were bundled out of the doubles.
The pair had won six of their seven previous matches together and picked up the Japan Open title in their last outing but they were no match for Spanish duo Nuria Llagostera Vives and Arantxa Parra Santonja, losing 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 11minutes.
Erakovic faces Llagostera Vives in singles today. The Kiwi No 1 will have the advantage in the power stakes but the diminutive Spaniard looks a tough customer.
Erakovic looked short of match practice, dropping her first three service games and struggling with her court positioning.
"I felt a bit rusty and a bit nervous," Erakovic said.
"I didn't hold my serve. Jill played better but we were just off today."
Erakovic dropped the opening service game but she and Craybas recovered with three straight games.
But it all fell apart from there, with the Spaniards taking five of the next six games to claim the set.
Erakovic found her serving groove in the second set, holding on both occasions to provide a confidence boost ahead of today's singles match, but the Spaniards were untroubled in taking the set 6-2.
"It just didn't click out there today and they played very solidly," Erakovic said. Although she had developed some ideas about how to tackle Llagostera Vives, Erakovic was guarded in her assessment of today's opponent.
In another late game, fourth seed Aleksandra Wozniak defeated Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 7-5 in match that lasted over two and half hours.
