Tennis: Erakovic pins hopes on home Classic

Marina Erakovic. Photo / Sarah Ivey

New Zealand tennis star Marina Erakovic is hoping next year's ASB Classic will provide the launch pad she needs to get her career back on track.

While tournament director Richard Palmer is yet to award any wildcards for the tournament, it is likely the 22-year-old Croatia-born Kiwi will find herself in the main draw in January.

She is hoping a strong showing in her home tournament will kick-start a climb back up the rankings after two seasons of frustrating injury niggles.

"I tend to play well here and I really enjoy myself and have a lot of support, so it's tended to be a great platform to begin the year and hopefully it'll be like that next year as well," Erakovic said. "I don't know what my chances are, but if I do get a wildcard I'll be very happy to play here. So fingers crossed - I think Richard likes me."

Erakovic heads into the 2011 season with a world ranking of 323, representing an alarming slide from her career-high ranking of 49 in July 2008.

After an injury-plagued 2009, Erakovic spent the first half of this year playing on the WTA tour, earning entry into the main draws by virtue of her protected ranking.

But when that grace period ended in September, she was forced to go back to playing futures tournaments.

However, she didn't have time to make much of an impression, with a wrist injury cutting short her season in Florida and forcing her to head home.

"I have a compressed nerve and a blood vessel in there, so I just had to come home and sort it out," she said.

"I was playing a tournament and I couldn't really hold the racquet. It's heaps better now, I'm training and I'm sure I'll be right for the summer.

"But it's just a shame. I had a couple more tournaments to play but then again I had been away for eight months so it's good to be home."

After her breakthrough year in 2008, watching her ranking plummet must have been intensely frustrating for Erakovic. But the youngster is remarkably philosophical about the disappointments of the past two years.

"It's tough, you'd like to be up there all the time, but sometimes that's the way things are and I think with situations like that you can only grow as a person and that's what I try to think about," she said.

"I still enjoy playing tennis and I still believe in myself, so I'm sure I'll get up there pretty soon."

A good showing at the ASB Classic, which features a strong field including top-name Russians Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina, would be a big boost for Erakovic's confidence.

If she gets the opportunity, Erakovic is looking forward to mixing with the WTA stars again, although she is mindful her usually reliable home-town support may waver if she finds herself up against Sharapova.

"That would be exciting [to play Sharapova]. I don't know if the guys will support her or me, though."