Kiwi tennis ace Marina Erakovic has expressed her relief at being made part of the New Zealand Olympic team after her selection saga finally came to an end.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee officially announced Erakovic's inclusion in the squad this afternoon after initially delaying their decision.
They were unsure of whether she could meet their requirement of finishing inside the top 16 in London despite having beaten world number four Victoria Azeranka and world number 15 Sabine Lisicki in recent months.
Tennis New Zealand had previously nominated Erakovic for selection and her world ranking of 46 meant she easily met International Tennis Federation standards for qualification.
The 24-year-old admitted that she didn't know which way NZOC were going to rule, but is happy to have some clarity as she plans her buid up to the games.
"There was a bit of relief, especially because I didn't really know what my schedule would look like after Wimbledon," she said from the UK today.
"Knowing now that I will play, I can plan ahead and see what tournaments I will play and get that settled feeling of knowing."
London will be Erakovic's second Olympic Games after she was eliminated in the first round in Beijing, but said the fact that this year's tournament will be held at Wimbledon made it more special.
"The Olympics is a great thing and being at Wimbledon this time around is really going to be special so I was very very honoured to get that call."
"It's a really special place and for the Olympic Games to be held there is a quite a milestone for tennis and our sport."
Erakovic conceded that finishing inside the top sixteen would be no mean feat, with most of the world's top players to compete, but gave herself a chance on her favoured surface.
"It's different, because our top 10 players on the women's side are all from different countries so the top 16 rule is difficult to apply to tennis, but at the end of the day it's a draw and anyone has a chance of making anything happen, especially at a place like Wimbledon on grass."
"I've done really well in the past on grass, it's a surface that I really enjoy and I play well on so I defnitely think there are advantages for me on that surface."
Erakovic will get the opportunity to tune up at the venue when she competes in the third grand slam of the year beginning next week.