Marina Erakovic (@ErakovicMarina) Rocks Her Way Into @CitiOpen Quarterfinals
Stephan Fogleman, Tennis East Coast
The Kiwi is in the Quarters.
Marina Erakovic won over 74% of her first service points today and saved six break points en route to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Shelby Rogers at Citi Open in Washington, DC.
We caught up with her to find out about her time off after a 2nd round exit in Roland Garros. She didn’t play a match since then until yesterday in Washington. She’s got a new coach, Eduardo Nicolas, the same man who coaches her new doubles partner, Arantxa Parra Santonja. The pair first played together in April at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston and expect to compete together at the US Open.
She’s the only New Zealander to win a Grand Slam of any kind. In her case, it was in 2004, as a Junior Doubles champion. She shrugs it off as “only juniors”. I wouldn’t dismiss that.
Tomorrow, she’ll face Bojana Jovanovski for a semifinal berth.
She’s a guitar enthusiast in her spare time and boasts on twitter that she’s a “Wannabe rock star who would like to play lead guitar for the Killers”. She brings a “travel guitar” with her on the tour. At home, she boasts a proud collection, including a rare Paul Reed Smith model. She was surprised to learn that those guitars are made an hour’s drive from Washington.
“I wish I had more time. Maybe I’ll just tell them I’m not going to play and I’ll be a tourist here”, she mused.
Tennis Atlantic 