Grass Court Skill

New Zealand’s Number 1 tennis player Marina Erakovic, 20, who has risen 100 places in world rankings to within the top 50, is compared with sporting great Justine Henin on Wimbledon’s official site. In her second round match against German Julia Goerges, Erakovic went into the match with “an astonishing statistic.” “She is third in the all-time grass court leaders behind Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, with a win percentage of 87.5 per cent, just ahead of Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams. With her 35 wins and five losses record on the surface, she controlled the match. Like Justine Henin, the New Zealander is an amazing striker of the ball and has every shot in the book. Furthermore, she showed great maturity for her age in knowing what shot to play.” Later this year, Erakovic will compete in the Beijing Olympics and at the US Open.