Erakovic has bounced back from her early singles exit to win through to the second round of the doubles at the French Tennis Open. Erakovic and her Romanian partner Monica Niculescu are seeded 16th and comfortably accounted for the French wildcard pairing Severine Beltrame and Laura Thorpe 7-5, 6-4.
It was a tight first set with Erakovic and Niculescu breaking in the 12th game to take the set.
“Monica and I we had our ups and downs and we were both a bit nervous today. But we managed to stay calm and play some good tennis. We were solid and hopefully this win can give us a boost to play better in the next round.” Erakovic said.
Erakovic was strong at the net and her volley set up a break for a three one lead in the second set.
The Kiwi served for the match at 5-3 but was broken.
‘It was just a tough game, love 30 down Monica played a good couple of points to get to 30 all then they just made a good volley and we were a little tight, but we managed to go out at 5-4 and hit some good shots to win the match.”
Erakovic says the match will give them confidence. “Monica is a great competitor and really fights hard and if we get momentum and start hitting some balls it’s bound to get better.”
The Kiwi/Romanian duo will take on the Chinese pairing of Shuai Peng and Jie Jheng in the second round.
Result: French Open R1 Doubles: Marina Erakovic (NZL)/Monica Niculescu (ROU) beat Severine Beltrame/Laura Thorpe (FRA) 7-5, 6-4.
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