By DAVE WORSLEY
Fourteen-year-old Marina Erakovic came close to winning the Auckland tennis singles title last night.
Leading by one set (7-6) to love and 5-4 and 30-30 on Leanne Baker's serve, she should have closed the match. But there's a big difference in experience between a 21-year-old ranked 360th on the
WTA tour and someone playing her first major final in New Zealand.
Erakovic was unable to put the volley at 30-30 away, and Baker came back, winning the next three games for a 7-5 scoreline.
After a first set in which neither player could break each other's serve, Erakovic showed she could match Baker's power. In the tiebreaker, Erakovic played some top tennis to win 7-3.
In the second set she was broken immediately, but managed to break back shortly afterwards before Baker gained the edge in blustery conditions.
In the third set, Erakovic began to fade, and Baker won the set and match 6-2.
"She was hitting the ball well, but I didn't think she could keep going at that pace," Baker said.
In the men's final, Wellington's Robbie Cheyne - the top seed - defeated Jacob Olsen in straight sets.
Olsen had a 3-1 and 4-2 lead in the first set after breaking his opponent's serve in the third game.
But Olsen's game slowly went off against the consistency of Cheyne, who eventually won 6-4, 6-2.
