Marina Erakovic's build-up for Wimbledon and hopes of Olympic selection received a setback when she lost her opening round match at the Eastbourne Championships in southern England.
Erakovic, ranked No.46 in the world, lost 5-7 1-6 to Austria's Tamira Paszek, who is ranked 12 places behind her, early on today.
New Zealander Erakovic and Thai partner Tamarine Tanasugarn face world No.2 pairing Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond, of the United States, in the opening round of the doubles overnight.
It's a rematch of last year's Wimbledon quarter-final where Tanasurgarn and Erakovic upset the highly ranked duo 13-10 in the third set supertiebreak.
Tennis New Zealand has nominated Erakovic for the London Olympics, but the New Zealand Olympic Committee won't make a decision on her selection until later this week.
NZN