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Rising New Zealand tennis star Marina Erakovic is thrilled to be contemplating life as one of the top 100 women tennis players after making the semifinals of the Memphis International tournament today.
Erakovic will play former world No 1 Lindsay Davenport tomorrow after her 4-6 6-3 6-3 win
over Russian Alla Kudryavtseva in the US$175,000 ($216,933) tier 3 WTA event today.
She is currently on a career-high ranking of 125 and her entry into the top 100 won't be confirmed until the next WTA rankings calculations, possibly next week, but she should be in at least the 90s after today's win.
"It feels good to make the top 100, it's been a goal of mine and it's nice to tick that off," she said after her win.
"But it's not like the money will be pouring in - you still have to grind it out and be tough," she told Radio Sport.
Erakovic had to be tough today, battling back from a set down to beat Kudryavtseva.
She said the Russian had read her serve well in the first set, but she managed to keep her serve together in the second set.
"I managed to hold a tight service game and after that she played a couple of bad games and from then on I just played much better and took control of the match," she said.
"I had to adjust my serve - she must have realised I had a plan to go more to her forehand and make her stretch, so then I thought I would just do the opposite and go for her backhand, really go for the corners and that's what I did and obviously she struggled with that."
Davenport, playing in her first WTA event on US soil in two years , brushed aside Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki 6-0 6-2.
Erakovic, who made the semifinals of the ASB tournament in Auckland in January, said before Davenport's victory she wasn't worried whether she played her or Wozniacki.
" They are both big hitters so I usually see what happens," she said before Davenport's victory.
"I am just enjoying the moment."
Davenport, who returned to the court last September after an 11-month absence to have a baby, said she was fired up for this tournament.
"I am very motivated here at this tournament, the first one I have played in the United States since the summer of '06. It's exciting for me and I am hoping to do well and get to the finals."
In the other women's quarterfinals, third seed Shahar Peer of Israel battled past seventh-seeded Swede Sofia Arvidsson 3-6 6-1 6-3 and fifth-seeded Olga Govortsova of Belarus beat German Julia Goerges 7-6 6-2.
- NZPA, REUTERS