KEY POINTS:
New Zealand wildcard Marina Erakovic's dream run in the ASB Classic tennis tournament in Auckland came to a halt today as she fell to unseeded Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai in straight sets in the semifinals.
Erakovic, 19, was unable to reproduce the form that had led to upsets over
American Ashley Harkleroad and Russian top seed and world No 22 Vera Zvonareva over the previous two days.
A 3-6 5-7 defeat, which prevented her from becoming the first New Zealander to reach the final since Belinda Cordwell finished runnerup in 1989, brought natural disappointment.
But Erakovic was also delighted with what she had managed to achieve this week.
"Winning against the No 22 in the world is a big breakthrough and especially doing it in Auckland," she said.
"It's a great start to the year and I'm very happy."
Apart from the feat of beating Harkleroad and Zvonareva - as well as compatriot and fellow wildcard entry Ellen Barry in the first round - what pleased Erakovic most was her ability to stay composed.
"There were a lot of people and a lot of support and sometimes you get very nervous," she said.
"But I think I dealt with the pressure quite well and I enjoyed myself, and that's something I started to do last year - enjoy it, have fun and play tennis."
She flies to Melbourne on Sunday to prepare for the Australian Open qualifying event.
Against Rezai, Erakovic was let down by her serve, a part of her game in which she had done so well earlier in the tournament.
Just 40 per cent of her first serves landed good during the 80-minute contest.
She also came up against an opponent whose policy of going for her shots, and hitting them as hard as she could, came off.
"She would have to be up there," Erakovic said, when asked whether she had ever faced anyone so aggressive.
"It's difficult against this type of player because you don't get into your rhythm - it's either going to be this great shot or it isn't."
Meanwhile, Rezai said the overwhelming crowd backing for Erakovic was the reason she took longer than she wanted to close out the match.
Up 5-3 in the second set, she had allowed Erakovic to come back to 5-5.
"I was starting to be nervous because of the people screaming, and of course they supported her," she said.
"That's why I lost two games."
Rezai, 20, got herself together mentally again to break back and then serve out the match.
Ranked 80th in world, she had an interesting 2007, with plenty of first round exits balanced by wins in May over former world No 1s Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova in Istanbul.
Tomorrow, she will meet another former world No 1 in Lindsay Davenport.
"Of course, I respect her and she's playing well," Rezai said.
"But I have nothing to lose."
The unseeded Davenport beat Austrian sixth seed Tamira Paszek 6-4 6-3 in 73 minutes to make her third final in four events since her comeback in September after giving birth to her first child.
The American, a three-time Grand Slam winner, made a slow start, dropping her serve in the very first game of the match.
But her heavier serving and ground strokes eventually carried her home against her 17-year-old opponent.
"She was more aggressive than I thought she would be and she did a good job of moving me around in the beginning," Davenport said.
"Luckily I was able to be a bit more aggressive and take control."
She conceded that her performance had been a patchy one and consistency was something she was working on.
"It has been frustrating in that regard this week," she said.
"A few more balls have been flying long on me than I'm used to."
- NZPA
