
Ankita Raina’s dream of playing in the Grand Slam singles main draw was once again unfulfilled when she lost to Serbia’s Olga Danilovic in the last round of the Australian Open qualifying tournament.
In the ongoing women’s singles qualifier in Dubai, Ankita was beaten by the Serbian player in the third and final round in two hours. 2, 3. 6, 6. Defeated by 1. This was Ankita’s sixth attempt to make it to the main round of Grand Slam. Now in the first Grand Slam of the season, India’s hopes in the singles category rests only on Sumit Nagal. He has got a wild card in men’s singles. Ramkumar Ramanathan lost in the first round of the men’s singles qualifier while Prajnesh Gunneswaran suffered a defeat in the second round.
Ankita said, ‘We both played tennis well. The first set saw a high level of play. She was doing good service and was scoring marks on her service. ‘ He said, ‘In the second set, I started to understand his service very well and I made a counter-return which benefited me. He took a 3–0 lead in the third set, serving well from the start. His stroke and service were fast. However, I did not give up till the end and I am proud of it.
This was Ankita’s sixth attempt to make it to the main round of Grand Slam. Now in the first Grand Slam of the season, India’s hopes in the singles category rests only on Sumit Nagal. He has got a wild card in men’s singles. Ramkumar Ramanathan lost in the first round of the men’s singles qualifier while Prajnesh Gunneswaran suffered a defeat in the second round.
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