Happy Holidays

Santa Claus is near. Seasons Greetings to everybody who’s reading, have a good break if you get one. I’m going out of town for a little while, should be back just before the ASB Classic kicks off on the 31st. I’ll definitely want to get a post up before the action begins, have a look at the draw and stuff. And then once the tennis kicks off I’ll report back after every day of play, it’s gonna be a blast.

That was all I was planning to say, but now I realise I can’t bear to post a post so short so I’ll hype up the tennis a little more. When I previewed the ASB Classic field I neglected to mention the New Zealand players who will be in action as well. New Zealand is not exactly a tennis superpower at the moment, but we do have some young female players with real promise.

The New Zealand number one Marina Erakovic has a great record at the ASB Classic, reaching the second round both times she’s played. I find that so impressive. Local low-ranked wildcards just aren’t supposed to win their first round matches, but nobody told Marina Erakovic that. The young lady has talent. She’s not a bad doubles player either. It’s been announced that Erakovic will be teaming up with Michaella Krajicek at the Classic, with whom she won a few juniors double titles back in the day, including the junior US Open in 2004. Plus they have a good chance of getting into the main draw on their own ranking, so we could see another New Zealand team get the doubles wildcard. Marina just reached the semi finals at a tournament in Dubai, where she also won the doubles title, so she looks to be in fine form. She lost that semi in three sets to Maria Kirilenko, who will be the third seed in Auckland. It’s all coming together.

Kiwi Sacha Jones will also be getting a main draw wildcard, she’s good too. And there’ll be local women trying to get through qualifying as well. It will be fun to see the hometown heroes perform, and I’m sure they won’t be without some giant-killing ambition.

Here’s Marina Erakovic playing in Auckland last year. Well, actually this year, but you know what I mean. 2007.