It’s been a seasons of firsts for Olivia Rogowska: a first Australian Open main draw victory set up her first appearance on Rod Laver Arena and a first match up against a top 10 opponent in Li Na. It was valuable experience as she contested her first WTA quarterfinal in Kuala Lumpur, followed by her first rubber as a member of Australia’s Fed Cup team. By year’s end there would be another milestone first as Rogowska achieved a career-high world No. 108 ranking.
“It’s been a lot of hard work and it’s paying off, which is good,” Rogowska told Australian Tennis Magazine. “I’ve played a lot of tournaments and had some pretty good results so that’s really helped my ranking. My goal was to get top 100 by the end of the year and I’m pretty close to that.”
If not for a handful of rankings points, there would have been another first for Rogowska – guaranteed direct entry into the main draw of Australian Open 2013. Currently ranked No.112, Rogowska is less than 10 places from the cut-off point and if there is frustration in not quite achieving that milestone, there is also a reassuring awareness that the Australian Open Play-off may provide another opportunity.
“I really enjoy playing the play-off,” said Rogowska, a finalist at the Australian Open Play-off for the past three years. “It’s really good preparation for summer because they try and make it as close to possible to the Australian Open, such as using new balls and playing at the courts and having full umpires and ball kids. It’s great.”
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