Tennis: Erakovic through to second round

New Zealander Marina Erakovic continued her climb up the tennis world rankings with a first round win at the Stanford Classic in California today (NZT).

Erakovic, who qualified for the main draw with a 6-3 6-1 win over Marie Eve Pelletier, was up against doubles partner Sofia Arvidsson (Sweden) today (NZT).

She cruised through 6-2 6-1 to set up a second round clash against top-seeded Victoria Azarenka (Belarus),

Erakovic is currently ranked 121st in the world to Azarenka's fourth.

Earlier, Erakovic and Arvidsson were knocked out in the first round of the doubles by Sabine Lisicki (Germany) and Australia's Sam Stosur in a walkover.

The same combination beat Erakovic and Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) in the Wimbledon semifnals less than a month ago.

- NZPA