Erakovic ready to lead New Zealand in formidable Billie Jean King Cup challenge

Marina Erakovic is plotting what on the face of it shapes as a mission impossible for the New Zealand team in next month’s Billie Jean King Asia Oceania Group 1 tournament in Antalya in Turkey.

The former world number 39 ranked WTA singles player is in the second year of her contract, having held the captaincy role when New Zealand last played and won the Asia Oceania Group 2 tournament in Wellington in February 2020.

Two teams from the six-team tournament earn promotion to the Playoffs while the bottom two teams are relegated to Group 2. Asian powerhouses Japan and China are in the tournament along with India, Indonesia, South Korea and New Zealand.

Erakovic who is also on the Tennis New Zealand board, rejects suggestions her appointment to the Fed Cup captaincy is a conflict of interest.

“Yeah, I mean, just, just so we're clear, it's not a conflict of interest to do both roles. It’s very common that a board member does something for the organisation in some way. The only conflict of interest would arise if there's some kind of board approval that is needed for myself or for something that involves that team that I'm giving guidance to, then in those cases, steps and procedures take place which the board has now established. So yeah, I'm very comfortable with that, and so is Tennis New Zealand.” Erakovic said.

As to the tournament itself, Erakovic acknowledged the size of the challenge that awaits New Zealand next month.

“It will be on the red clay in Antalya and we've got some pretty challenging teams, including China and Japan, which have some great players. Those countries have some depth but China and Japan haven’t had good results historically on red clay either. So, it's about adapting to the conditions. But at the end of the day, we have to adapt to what we can do.” Erakovic said.

The New Zealand team is likely to be spearheaded by singles players Paige Hourigan and Valentina Ivanov and doubles specialist Erin Routliffe who is at a career high WTA ranking of 33.

“We’re still discussing, obviously and have been putting out our feelers over the past couple of months to see who's around, who's been playing, who's been injured, or who hasn't been playing at all and absolutely, those three are definitely on list. Someone like Erin who has had just an incredible run during this pandemic, and I'm so happy for her and I hope it keeps going. But some of our other girls have been affected, someone like Paige, or even Valentina in college, it's hard.” Erakovic lamented.

It’s likely Erakovic will also look to blood one or two youngsters like Vivian Yang who has been achieving some terrific results at ITF Junior level.

“So, we're definitely looking at that. The great thing about Billie Jean King Cup is that you can actually take players to just be part of the team that don't have to necessarily play and be on the list to play. So even the experience of having someone young and just to be there with the team to watch how it's done, it’s a huge amount of experience that can be gained.”

The tournament is held from the 12^th to the 16^th of April.