Tennis: Erakovic primed to break into world's top 30

Marina Erakovic showed good form at the ASB Classic. Photo / Dean Purcell

Kiwi feels she’s ready to start a new chapter in her tennis career.

Marina Erakovic believes she can break into the top 30 players in the world.

She doesn't know when or if it will happen, but feels certain it can.

The New Zealand No1, who starts her sixth Australian Open campaign tomorrow, spent the latter half of last year re-evaluating her game after cutting ties with long-time coach Christian Zahalka in June. There have been some technical tweaks, as well as work on the mental side of her game.

There were some positive signs at the ASB Classic, where she pushed impressive Czech Barbora Zahalavova-Strycova to three sets after beating rising star Monica Puig in the first round. There is a long way to go but world No74 Erakovic has lofty achievements on her mind.

"I think top 30 is feasible, definitely, absolutely," said Erakovic. "It's a cliche but it's all top two inches. I've definitely got the goods, the game to play that tennis. It's just a matter of getting it together on the court and playing good tennis, especially in important situations."

The 26-year-old, who reached a career-high ranking of 39 in 2012, can surprise the big guns. She beat the world No12 (Sara Errani) last year, has claimed other top 20 scalps like Dominika Cibulkova and Sabine Lisicki and enjoyed a memorable win over world No4 Victoria Azarenka in 2011. Now it needs to happen more often.

Erakovic's Grand Slam career has been solid, especially considering no other Kiwi has played singles in a major since the late 1990s. She's got past the first hurdle seven times and reached the third round on three occasions.

But there has been a degree of if-only with Erakovic. Last year in New York she played brilliantly to defeat 22nd seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, only to lose to 56th-ranked Elena Vesnina in the next match. Her run at Wimbledon in 2013 ended disappointingly in a third-round loss to Laura Robson and in Melbourne last year she knocked out a seed then lost to a 152nd-ranked qualifier.

"I have had some chances to advance at some grand slams," reflects Erakovic. "Third round, possibly fourth round, possibly quarters. That is another step I have to take and once I do I will feel a lot more comfortable."

Erakovic has done a lot of learning over the past year. A period of introspection prompted her split with Zahalka; she felt it was time for a new direction, and wanted to take more control of her game, on and off the court. Tomorrow is another step - and an extremely tough one.

She faces Spanish 22nd seed Garbine Muguruza, who had three wins over top 10 players last year, including Serena Williams. If Erakovic progresses she will face either Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) or Saisai Zheng (China).

Michael Venus and Artem Sitak are the other Kiwis in action this week, paired with Oliver Marach (Austria) and Benjamin Becker (Germany) respectively in the men's doubles.