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Marina Erakovic - Source: Photosport -
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New Zealand's Marina Erakovic has forced her way into the main
draw of her comeback tennis tournament in Italy.
Erakovic qualified for the main draw at the $US100,000 ($NZ134,085)
International Tennis Federation (ITF) indoor event at Ortisei after
battling through three rounds of qualifying.
Her third qualifying success came on Tuesday when she beat
Romania's Elora Dabija 6-2 6-1, her easiest victory this
week.
Earlier, she had beaten Czech Kristyna Pliskova 6-4 7-6 and Italian
Alice Moroni 7-6 6-7 6-2.
Erakovic, 21, will play Italian wildcard and world No 173 Anna
Floris in the first round of the main draw tomorrow morning
(NZT).
It is her first tournament since being forced off the circuit in
March by injury.
"It's great to be back playing a tournament," Erakovic said.
"I definitely feel rusty, however I'm very eager and motivated and
to come back and qualify for this tournament was a good
start."
Erakovic was diagnosed with a stress-related hip injury in March,
forcing her to skip this year's French Open, Wimbledon and the US
Open.
Her comeback was then delayed when she was troubled by an ankle
complaint.
During her absence from the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and
ITF circuits her world ranking has plummeted to 240th.
She reached a career-high 49th in July last year and was 83rd when
forced off the circuit in March.
Erakovic is eligible for a "special ranking" under WTA Tour rules,
which is based on a player's ranking following their last
tournament played.
That ranking can be used for entry into a maximum of eight WTA Tour
events in a 12-month period, including one Grand Slam.
