Rising young New Zealand tennis sensation, Marina Erakovic, has recently teamed with the Kia brand, by becoming Kia Motors latest sponsored athlete.
Marina, ranked no. 153 in the world of woman's tennis at the end of 2007, had an incredible run over the past year, to find herself jumping over 100 rankings, to a career high of world no. 49.
Marina's 2008 season started as a wild card entry in the ASB Classic, she had 3 amazing wins, including a major upset against top seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva which earned her a place in the semi finals, the best result by a New Zealander since 1990. These results also gave her immediate entries into the main singles draws of 3 Grand Slams, The French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, where she had a superb run in the doubles with new partner Jelena Kostanic Tosic, by reaching the quarter finals. This too being the first time a kiwi has made the quarter finals in a grand slam since 1994.
Marina had an extremely active year during 2008, also representing New Zealand at the Beijing Olympics, where she unfortunately bowed out in the first round. Following a short break back home in New Zealand, Marina traveled to Seoul where she took part in the Korean Open and then Tokyo, for the Japan Open, where she and her USA doubles partner Jill Craybas, won the Womens Doubles final against home town favourites, Ayumi Morita, and Ako Nakamura 4-6, 7-5, 10-6.
Marina started her 2009 season with a second round appearance at the ASB Womens Tennis Classic, where she lost to World No. 4 Elena Dementieva, and another second round appearance at the Australian Open in Melbourne, where she competed for the first time.
Marina recovered at home from a hip injury that had seen her withdraw from a number of tournaments, including the 2009 Wimbledon, which had caused her world ranking to fall from 83 to 239. Back in New Zealand, Marina was kept busy helping Kia promote the all new Kia Soul, not only driving the funky car, but also taking part in the Soul's nationwide promotion, one of the biggest print campaigns seen in New Zealand involving an individual sportsman or sportswoman.
Now on the mend, Marina launched her return to competitive tennis in Spain at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona. The academy was established by former top Spanish pros Emilio Sanchez and Sergio Casal in 1998, and has been a training base for many talented players such as as current French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, Martina Navratilova, Ana Ivanovic, Daniela Hantuchova, Kia Ambassador Raphael Nadal, and Andy Murray.
For more updates from Marina herself follow her blog at www.marinaerakovic.co.nz