Tennis: Erakovic out of Aussie Open qualifying

Marina Erakovic acknowledges her home crowd after losing against Alexandra Dulgheru. Photo / photosport.nz

New Zealand tennis No1 Marina Erakovic has lost her first round qualifying match at the Australian Open to Portugal's Michelle Larcher De Brito in three sets this evening.

The 0-6 6-4 7-5 defeat took just over two hours of play with the 222nd ranked Larcher De Brito winning thanks to just a few vital points in the final set where Erakovic came back from 2-5 down.

The loss means Erakovic ranked 138th in the world will need to qualify for WTA events when she next plays a tournament.