Ankita’s dream run continues
For Ankita Raina, the RK Khanna Tennis Stadium is turning out to be her lucky venue. Having clinched a title two weeks ago at the same venue, the 21-year-old continued her dream run to lift her second consecutive crown at the $10,000 ITF women’s singles event in the capital.
Ankita defeated compatriot Kanika Vaidya 6-4, 6-4 to grab the winner’s cheque on Saturday.
Such was the domination of the Gujarat-born world no. 373 that she did not drop a single set throughout the competition en route to bagging her fourth ITF title overall and third in her last six outings.
On the day, top seed Ankita began as a favourite but the 18-year-old Kanika put up a tough challenge on the back of her strong first serve.
The first six games went on serve before Kanika drew first blood by breaking her opponent’s serve in the seventh game. However, Ankita hit back immediately and tightened the noose on the 10th game to pocket the first set.
The second set also followed the same script with Ankita dropping her serve on the fifth game but immediately striked back on the next to draw level.
Ankita then relied on her experience to nullify Kanika’s serves, and the ploy worked well for Ankita as her young opponent succumbed to pressure and handed the title to the top seed in the 10th game.
Said Ankita, “I was confident going into the final and stuck to my game plan. I have had a lot of exposure at the international level in the last three years thanks to Lakshya and Bharat Forge and I am very happy that I am making them proud with my results now.”
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