KEY POINTS:
It's the morning of New Year's Eve and Marina Erakovic is halfway through a short, sharp training session on centre court at Auckland's tennis centre in Stanley St.
A miscued volley hits the net and the ball bounces back towards her. Casually, she flicks it up with her left foot, lobs it to head height with her right and traps it on the back of her neck. A shrug of the shoulders and a right-foot volley later and the ball is whistling out of court.
It's the sort of trick Zinedine Zidane might produce for a shaving foam commercial, although it's doubtful the footballing maestro would use a tennis ball.
As much as it gives a glimpse of the wonderful co-ordination possessed by the world's 60th-ranked female tennis player, it surely also hints at her soccer background?
Not so, says Erakovic, after finishing her session.
"When I was little I used to play a lot with my friends on the beach. That was it."
The juggling trick is an extension of a tennis drill she practised as a junior, playing soccer with tennis balls in small squares. These days it is a diversion, a chance to clear her mind before returning to the relentless grind of perfecting volleys, groundstrokes and serves.
Diversions are something she might need over the next week or so as this year's ASB Classic takes place.
An enthralling run to the semifinals of last year's tournament kick-started a remarkable year for Erakovic, whose ranking rocketed from 161 to a career-high 49 before tailing off slightly towards the end of the season.
Season highlights included making the second round at Rolland Garros, the third round at Wimbledon and the quarter-finals of the US Open doubles.
She also turned in solid performances at WTA tournaments in Memphis and Birmingham, making the semis on both occasions, as well as claiming three WTA doubles titles.
After her years of toiling largely on the second-tier ITF circuit, it was truly a breakthough year for the Croatian-born Kiwi.
Her season may have ended with eight first-round exits, but that will hardly dent the expectations of a New Zealand tennis public starved for years of a world-class performer to support.
The 20-year-old knows full well she carries a nation's hopes on her shoulders.
"It is something I have learned to deal with," she says.
"I wouldn't say I am fully equipped to know how to handle it. It is there and I feel the pressure but you've just got to play. You know it will be there. As Billy Jean [King] said, pressure is a privilege really."
During her hot streak over the first half of last season, Erakovic spoke frequently about the importance of riding her wave of good form for as long as possible.
That wave carried her as far as Wimbledon before it unceremoniously dumped her.
A second-round victory over Julia Goerges in south-west London was her last in singles for the year.
She did bank three titles and a run to the quarters of the US Open in doubles as a consolation, but Erakovic is still struggling to catch another wave. She is hoping history will repeat and the home tournament will again give her the leg up she needs.
"It is tough to get back on it," she says. "Basically it is hard work, really. Playing the matches, gaining the confidence, training, playing points, doing all the stuff you do normally.
"Everyone has those patches where you have a little bit of a tough time. Some have minor patches, some have bigger ones. It is about riding out the storm and seeing the sunshine again. That is how it works."
Having thoroughly exceeded her goal of breaking into the top 100 in 2008, her run of defeats did little to take the gloss off a stellar year.
"Looking back at the year, I am very pleased with it. I would like to have gone a lot better in the second half, but I had some great doubles results as well, so it was very good.
"If I could do the same this year or even better I'll be very pleased."
Her long-term outlook might be cheery enough but Erakovic admits her on-court confidence has taken a dent in recent months. The aggressive approach on big points that paid such handsome dividends earlier in the season began to fail her and she started tightening up at crucial times.
"I always try to be aggressive. Whenever there is a pressure situation I think to myself 'be aggressive, that is how you win the points'. No matter what happens I try to go for it. Playing [in Auckland] with the crowd behind you makes that a bit easier.
"Even with the losses I had this year, I was still trying to go for it even though it wasn't working that well."
This year, for the first time Erakovic will appear at the Classic as of right, qualifying by virtue of her ranking. She has also become financially independent - the Seed Foundation funding she had previously relied upon was withdrawn after she banked a cheque for US$56,298 for her Wimbledon efforts.
In total she made US$234,157 ($406,169) last year, taking her career earnings to US$336,224 ($583,214).
"Financially I did become independent, but that is not to say I am earning lots and lots of money and can buy whatever I want," she says.
"The expenses are huge. What I earn basically covers my year - the travel, the hotels, the food and and the training. In the end I am still living at home with my Mum and Dad.
"If you keep getting the results and play really well at the Slams then [the money] will happen. But it's not something I really think about or focus on, it just comes if it comes."
A foot strain has put Erakovic is on a light training schedule ahead of the Classic, but improving her conditioning is a priority as she looks to kick on from last year's success.
The jury is still very much out on how far she can go in the game.
Another good first half year would set her up for a tilt at the top 20 in the second half. But, with the vast majority of her ranking points having come early last year, a slow start could send her ranking tumbling.
A heavy server and good volleyer, she has the game to be an extremely successful doubles player, and the three WTA titles she claimed last year certainly won't be her last.
But whether she can claim singles titles at the highest level remains to be seen.
She has shown limited ability to foot it with the game's real big guns. Meetings with Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams ended in heavy defeats, although she did push Jelena Jankovic to a second set tiebreak on clay in the second round at the French Open.
But Erakovic says singles success remains her priority and she believes she has plenty of improvement left in her.
"I always think I can do a lot better. I am a real perfectionist when I train and when it doesn't go my way I get a little ticked off.
"I think I have improved a lot over the last few years, and I think I have got a long way to go ... I think can improve a lot more."
