Former top-40 player retires at the age of 30 with ongoing back injury
A few days after Bojana Jovanovski, another former top-40 player has announced the retirement from tennis, with the 30-year-old Marina Erakovic deciding to call it a career due to an ongoing back injury that has been bothering her for years. Marina was born in the Croatian town of Split (Goran Ivanisevic and Mario Ancic are from Split as well) and she moved to New Zealand with her family in 1994, making her first tennis steps and enjoying a rock solid junior career that propelled her into the top-5 after battling against Nicole Vaidisova, Dominika Cibulkova, Angelique Kerber, Sabine Lisicki, Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki!
Erakovic was by far the best junior of her country, sprinting towards U14, U16 and U18 national titles and becoming New Zealand's number 1 player on the WTA list at the age of 15. Her initial seasons on the Pro Tour were also good, reaching the Top 50 in 2008 at the age of 20 despite losing the last eight matches that season. Her progress was halted in 2009 when she suffered a left hip injury that kept her off the court for seven months, dropping out from the top-200 and struggling to find the form in 2010 as well. Marina played her best tennis between 2011-2014, cracking the top-40 in 2012 and reaching four ATP finals, lifting the first and only WTA singles crown in Memphis in 2013.
Her last year-end top-100 season came in 2014, struggling with a knee injury in the following season to end his campaign at the US Open. In 2016, Marina was the finalist in Rabat and she also played in the third round at Wimbledon as a qualifier but she never found the way towards the top-100 again, failing to make an impact last year due to a back injury and deciding to retire after missing the entire 2018. She is an eight-time WTA doubles champion and a former top-25 player, reaching 16 finals in total. Over the course of her career that lasted for 13 years, Marin had a chance to play against some of the best players in the last decade or so, scoring her biggest win in Stanford seven years ago when she stunned world number 4 Victoria Azarenka in three sets. She also had a chance to compete for New Zealand in the Fed Cup for 10 years, winning 18 out of 25 singles rubbers and 26 overall.
"I am very proud to have been one of New Zealand's leading athletes, and to have represented my country," Erakovic said. "Playing in 53 countries and visiting countless cities as the lone Kiwi tennis player has not been easy, but it has meant that I have had the fortune of making lifelong friends from every corner of the earth. This has truly been an incredible experience. In sport as in life, nothing is ever a smooth ride. Over the last few years my body struggled to handle the demands of tour life and it became too difficult to play at a level of which I am normally capable.
I decided to give my mind and body a break this year and after a lot of recovery and reflection I have decided to put the racquets away. A career in sport is impossible to achieve without the support, guidance and constant reassurance of family and friends. My Mum and Dad, Liliana and Mladen, sister Julia and late grandmother Dragica put their own lives on hold so that I could succeed, and for that I am forever grateful."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2C4wbZA
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