Erakovic revels in Olympic village life

Marina Erakovic is happy to be ensconced in the Olympic athletes' village despite the lengthy commute to the London Games tennis venue.

The tournament is being staged on the hallowed grass of Wimbledon, in the capital's south-west.

The village is in Stratford, in the East End, and Erakovic's first experience of the bus trip between the two points took two hours.

Even with the special road lanes for Olympic traffic having come into operation, the journey is still around 75 minutes.

Despite that, Erakovic has no thoughts of swapping the apartment she shares with some of the canoeing team for a hotel room closer to the courts.

"Being in the village is part of the Olympics," she said.

"I think that's important."

The 24-year-old Aucklander, ranked 46th in the world, became an Olympian four years ago in Beijing, when she fell at the first hurdle.

Her familiarity with Wimbledon will make the Olympics a different experience this time around.

However, the tradition-filled venue will have a slightly altered look from when it hosts its leg of the tennis's Grand Slam.

Banners in a colour that one critic has decried as "Barbara Cartland pink" surround the courts.

There are also changes for the players, and not just the waiver on the dress code of predominantly white, which will allow Erakovic to don New Zealand black.

"During Wimbledon, in the locker room, we've got shampoo, conditioner, hair straighteners, things like that - you get spoiled," she said.

"Here, it's much simpler."

While Erakovic is delighted to be at the Olympics, she doesn't agree with Australian Bernard Tomic's rating of a gold medal above a Wimbledon title.

"I'd go for Wimbledon, because for me that's the sport I play - tennis," she said.