New Zealand's Marina Erakovic has had a solid second round win at the US$25,000 Challenger tournament in Gosford, Australia.
Third-seeded Erakovic defeated Australian Mirielle Dittmann 6-1 7-6 to gain a place in the quarter-finals, where she will face Australian wildcard Bryanne Stewart.
Erakovic, who turns 18 in two weeks time, is ranked at 220 and is in just her second tournament back after a lengthy layoff with injury.
She reached the quarters at the Sydney Challenger last week as well.
The other New Zealand woman in action at Gosford, Leanne Baker, saw her recent run of success come to an end as she took the top seed to three sets, but couldn't quite come away a winner.
Baker, ranked at 428, lost to 131st-ranked Slovak Jarmila Gajdosova 3-6 6-3 6-4 in the second round.
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At the US$15,000 Wollongong men's Futures event, New Zealand No 1 Mark Nielsen had an intense three set victory over fellow kiwi Dan King-Turner in the second round.
Fourth seeded Nielsen was pushed all the way but finished as the winner 4-6 6-3 7-6 and will now play eighth seeded Taiwanese player Ti Chen in the quarter-finals.
Nielsen keeps his unbeaten record against other New Zealanders intact, now stretching back over four years.
King-Turner will now return home for the two US$15,000 Futures events, the Kia Motors Futures at Blenheim next week and the ASB men's International Futures in Hamilton the following week.
Tennis: Wins for Erakovic and Nielsen
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