Ankita Raina thread

[bujilover]

Ankita is partnering Brit Lisa Whybourn and the team is drawn against second seeds Luksika Kumkhum/Varatchaya Wongteanchai.Good luck

[bujilover]

Ankita bowed out in the doubles R1 this week.

Here is the singles draw for next week's Challenger.

$25,000 Noto,JPN

QR1: [7] Ankita RAINA (648) BYE

She will face any of the unranked Japanese in the QR2.Good luck.

[sameerph]

At $25,000 Noto,JPN

[Q2] (7) Ankita RAINA (648) l. Yukako NOI (JPN,NR) 62 57 67(5)

So, not a good Japanese tour for Ankita.

Dinesh, you have to also complete results of the matches where Indians lose to compete the loop.

[sameerph]

In the latest WTA rankings, 20 year old Ankita Raina has risen to career high of 463 & become the no. 1 Indian women player ahead of Rishika Sunkara who is at 480. As Arjun said another thread, Sania Mirza is still clearly India's best singles players . But, since she is not playing singles any more, Ankita is certainly the most deserving among the rest. Hope she still attains greater heights in the rankings in the coming months & years.

[jaydeep]

Interview of Ankita Raina.

Interview with Indian Women’s Singles No. 1 Ankita Raina: “My goal is to reach the top 300 this year”

You have now won the National Championships and reached the Lucknow ITF final on grass, won the Chennai ITF on clay and made the finals of two hardcourt ITF events this year. That really proves your versatility and consistency. What are the areas that you have been working on to bring about such an amazing improvement?

- Yes, it’s a great feeling to perform good on all the surfaces! It proves that I can adjust to all kinds of surfaces and perform well. This also gives confidence to me that my dream of winning the Grand Slams on all surfaces will come true some day. I was working on getting a weapon in my game, my forehand, with which I can attack from any part of the court and which can the trouble the opponent on all the surfaces. Also, presently I am working on my serve.

What are your next tournaments?

- I will be travelling to Indonesia for one 25K and then to Uzbekistan for two 25Ks. After that, we have a few tournaments in India itself, so this is my plan.

What are your goals for 2013?

- My goal is to get within the top 300 in the WTA Singles ranking by the end of this year.

[prasen9]

We need a Gopichand.

[sameerph]

What are your goals for 2013?

- My goal is to get within the top 300 in the WTA Singles ranking by the end of this year.

Good to see some realistic goals set for the year. In last 10 years or more , apart from Sania, only Isha Lahani has been able to make it only briefly to top 300. ( I am not counting US grown players such as Shikha Uberoi & Sunitha Rao). Bhambri sisters, Rushmi Chakrabarthi, Tara Iyer etc. all highly talented could not even end up within top 300. So, top 300 is a nice goal to breach by current Indian women tennis standards.

[sameerph]

Ankita qualified for the main draw of $25K challenger in Indonesia.

At $25K ITF Women, Tarakan, Indonesia

[Q1] (3) Ankita RAINA (IND,461) bye
[Q2] (3) Ankita RAINA (IND,461) d. Sharmada BALU (IND,1019) 63 63

Sharmada had upset 741st ranked Varunya Wongteanchai of Thailand in Q1. But, will unfortunately not get any points. 2 other Indian girls, Natasha Palha & Nidhi Chilumula lost to lower ranked Chinese players in Q1.

Main draw-
[R1] (Q) Ankita RAINA (IND,461) vs. Deria NUR HALIZA (INA,NR)

She got an easy match-up in the first round against local wild card.

[Omkara]

That's a far-off island in Indonesia. A few points earned will definitely help.

[jaydeep]

Unranked local player stretched Ankita after winning the first set but importantly Ankita completed fighting win over Deria..

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Tarakan, Indonesia

[R1] (Q) Ankita RAINA (IND,461) bt (WC) Deria NUR HALIZA (INA,UNR) 36 62 75

[PKBasu]

Phew! That was an unexpected struggle! But some of these unranked players are quite good -- but aren't ranked simply they don't venture onto the tour enough. A win is a win! Onto the next round for Ankita...

[bujilover]

So 9 ranking points as of now Way to go!

[PKBasu]

In R2, Ankita plays 18-year-old qualifier Xiaorong Dong (CHN, UNR), who took out her 8th-seeded compatriot (ranked 389) in a tough 3-setter in R1.

[sameerph]

Ankita could not overcome the Chinese.

[R2] (Q) Ankita RAINA (IND,461) l. (Q) Xiaorong DONG (CHN, UNR) 46 36

Ankita lost an opportunity to gather more WTA points but the Chinese player must be way better then her ranking( or rather no ranking). I know I will be blasted for this but not sure what else to say about the Chinese girl who beat a top 400 player in the earlier round.

Anyway, with 9 WTA points Ankita should move up to inside 440 in the rankings when these points are updated.

[Saniapower]

Why she performs so poorly on a foreign soil ?