New Zealand’s top tennis professional, Marina Erakovic, will head to the renowned Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona, at the end of this month to prepare for her return to competition following four months of rehabilitation in Auckland after incurring a left hip stress reaction while competing in March. This will be the first time for Marina to train at the Sannchez-Casal Academy which was established in 1998 by former top Spanish pros Emilio Sanchez and Sergio Casal. 

In the next two months Marina will return to full training levels in preparation for return to competition in late September. She will still be in Barcelona during the US Open which starts in the last week of August, meaning she will miss her third Grand Slam of the year. As she will have been out of tournament play for six months by the end of September, Marina will be eligible for a “special ranking” under WTA Tour Rules.  A “special ranking” is based on a player’s ranking following their last tournament played which in this case would be 83.  This ranking can be used for entry into a maximum of eight WTA Tour events in a 12 month period including one Grand Slam.

The injury that has already forced Marina out of the recent French Open and Wimbledon Championships as well as other grass court tournaments plus a mandatory WTA event in Madrid, has seen Marina’s actual WTA ranking fall this week to 239 in singles and 65 in Doubles. Marina will use her actual ranking to enter the ITF women’s circuit events (Tournaments of prize money $US100,000 or less) and some WTA Tour Qualifying events while using her “special ranking” to enter higher level WTA events and if necessary the 2010 Australian Open. Her first tournament is expected to be an ITF women’s event in Europe in late September. During Wimbledon, Marina launched her website www.marinaerakovic.co.nz and she will be keeping everyone updated about her training in Barcelona and her return to tournament play via her website blog, news and photos.