Ankita Raina

Ankita Ravinderkrishan Raina (born 11 January 1993[1]) is an Indian professional tennis player. Raina has won one WTA 125k title in doubles, along with 11 singles and 18 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. In April 2018, she entered the top 200 singles rankings for the first time, becoming only the fifth player representing India to achieve this feat.[2][3] Raina has also won gold medals in the women's singles and mixed-doubles events at the 2016 South Asian Games, and won a bronze medal in singles at the 2018 Asian Games.

Ankita Raina
Full nameAnkita Ravinderkrishan Raina
Country (sports) India
ResidenceAhmedabad, Gujarat, India
Born (1993-01-11) 11 January 1993
Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Height1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Turned proMay 2009
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$354,765
Singles
Career record270–220 (55.1%)
Career titles11 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 160 (2 March 2020)
Current rankingNo. 180 (14 December 2020)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian OpenQ3 (2021)
French OpenQ2 (2020)
WimbledonQ2 (2018, 2019)
US OpenQ2 (2019)
Doubles
Career record200–167 (54.5%)
Career titles1 WTA 125K, 18 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 117 (14 December 2020)
Current rankingNo. 117 (14 December 2020)
Team competitions
Fed Cup23–17 (57.5%)
Last updated on: 14 September 2020.

Playing for India in Fed Cup, Raina has a win/loss record of 23–17.[4] She has notable wins over Zhu Lin (CHN) and Yulia Putintseva (KAZ), both at the 2018 Fed Cup.

Personal life

Raina was born in the western Indian state of Gujarat to a Kashmiri Pandit family. Her middle-class Hindu family hails from the town of Tral in Pulwama district, Kashmir. Her family left Kashmir in the early 1990s during the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus, due to the ongoing insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir.[5] Raina is fluent in Hindi, Gujarati, and English. Raina briefly studied at Brihan Maharashtra.

At the national events, Raina has represented her home state Gujarat. Her idols growing up were Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Sania Mirza.

Raina trains at the Hemant Bendrey Tennis Academy at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana in Pune. Previously coached by Hemant Bendrey, she is now coached by Arjun Kadhe, who is also her trainer and hitting partner.[6][7]

Career
Raina playing in the qualifying competition of the 2018 French Open – her first Grand Slam tournament.

Raina started playing tennis at the age of five. Following a promising junior career, Raina made her first professional appearance in 2009, at a small ITF tournament in Mumbai. In 2010, she continued to participate in local ITF events with limited success. Raina's 2011 season saw her advance to three ITF circuit finals in doubles, winning one with countrywoman Aishwarya Agrawal. In 2012, she won her first professional singles title in New Delhi and won three more in doubles. This was followed by a few years of mediocre results on the ITF Circuit.

Raina won two matches at the 2017 Mumbai Open, advancing to the biggest quarterfinal of her career. This would turn out to be her breakthrough tournament. In April 2018, she reached a ranking of world No. 181, after winning a $25k title, becoming the fifth Indian national to crack to the top-200 ladies singles rankings, following Nirupama Sanjeev, Sania Mirza, Shikha Uberoi, and Sunitha Rao.[8]

In August 2018, Ankita won the bronze medal in the Asian Games at Jakarta, Indonesia in singles event. Raina and Sania Mirza are the only players representing India to have won a singles medal at the Asian Games.[9]

Following a loss at the 2019 Australian Open, Raina won the ITF W25 title in Singapore, win a solid win over Arantxa Rus in the final.[10] At the 2019 Kunming Open, Raina got her first top-100 win, defeating Samantha Stosur, former US Open champion and top-10 player, scoring the biggest win of her career. At the 2019 French Open, Raina lost her first qualifying match to well-known American youngster Coco Gauff in two tight sets, despite playing well. She went on to reach the second qualifying rounds of both the 2019 Wimbledon Championships and the 2019 US Open, losing tight 3-setters in both tournaments. In October 2019, Raina entered the top 150 doubles rankings for the first time, after reaching the finals of the 2019 Suzhou Ladies Open with partner Rosalie van der Hoek.

Raina had a disappointing result at the 2020 Australian Open, albeit she was unwell due to the Australian bushfires.[11] However, Raina found further doubles success by winning two back-to-back ITF titles in Nonthaburi alongside Bibiane Schoofs;[12] followed by reaching her first WTA Tour semifinal at the 2020 Thailand Open alongside Rosalie. This gave Raina a new career-high raking of No. 119 in doubles. She also won two singles titles early on in 2020, one in Nonthaburi, and the other in Jodhpur, India.[13] Raina then helped India advance to the Fed Cup World Group 2 playoffs for the first time in history in April 2020 in Dubai, along with Sania Mirza, Rutuja Bhosale, Riya Bhatia and Sowjanya Bavisetti.[14] In the Fed Cup, Raina had put up a good fight and won the first set 6–1 against China's top player Wang Qiang, but lost the match in three tight sets.

Raina returned to competition at the resumption of the tour in September but suffered early exits in ITF tournaments. She then competed at the 2020 French Open where she advanced to the second qualifying round for the first time but lost to Kurumi Nara. In December 2020, Raina won the biggest ITF doubles title of her career at the 2020 Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge held in Dubai, alongside Ekaterine Gorgodze; subsequently, she reached a new career high doubles ranking of No. 117.

Playing style
Raina won the gold medal in singles at the 2016 South Asian Games.

Raina is a steady baseliner who primarily relies on her speed and counterpunching abilities to outlast her opponents. She hits with plenty of topspin on both her forehand and backhand, and can hit in all directions comfortably. She also uses the backhand slice quite often, as a way of varying the pattern of a rally.[15] Raina is comfortable with volleying (including drive volleying), and approaches the net whenever she gets her opponent running or out of position. She doesn't use the drop shot or lob too frequently, but brings them out as a surprise tactic. Raina's biggest strength is her baseline consistency. She can stay toe-to-toe with most players from the back of the court, and can get a majority of shots back in play.[16] Raina has a solid first serve, but it is her second serve that gives her an advantage at the start of a point. She can hit a good kick serve, which opens up the court for an easy putaway. Raina also has a good return of serve, and is capable of neutralizing most big serves by sending them back with precision. She is also quite efficient at the net, and can take the attack to the opponent on fast courts with her purposeful volleys. Raina's biggest weakness is the lack of firepower on her groundstrokes. She can't match the raw muscle strength of the top players, and so is frequently in danger of getting blown off the court.[17] Recently, she has been moving a lot better on the court as well. Raina's preferred surfaces are grass and hard court, as they are more suited to her game style; with clay being her weakest surface.[18]

Sponsorship and equipment

In her junior years, Raina was helped by Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals to participate in overseas junior tournaments. Since then, she has been supported by Bharat Forge and Lakshya. Most recently, Raina has signed sponsorship deals with the Sports Authority of Gujarat and Yonex, and she is officially employed with ONGC.[19] Hence, Raina uses Yonex racquets and clothing. Adani Group is her current supporter.

In 2013, Raina met Narendra Modi, India's then-future prime minister, and officially was recognised under the Shaktidhoot scheme and hence became a part of India's goal of reaching Olympic podiums.[20]

WTA 125K series finals

Doubles: 1 (1 title)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Nov 2018 Taipei Open, Taiwan Carpet Karman Thandi Olga Doroshina
Natela Dzalamidze		 6–3, 5–7, [12–12] ret.

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 21 (11 titles, 10 runner–ups)
Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$80,000 tournaments
$60,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Finals by surface
Hard (10–8)
Clay (1–1)
Grass (0–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Apr 2012 ITF Fujairah, United Arab Emirates 10,000 Hard Fatma Al-Nabhani 3–6, 2–6
Win 1–1 Jun 2012 ITF New Delhi, India 10,000 Hard Prerna Bhambri 6–4, 6–2
Loss 1–2 Jul 2012 ITF New Delhi, India 10,000 Hard Miyabi Inoue 2–6, 2–6
Loss 1–3 Mar 2013 ITF Hyderabad, India 10,000 Hard Bárbara Luz 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(3–7)
Loss 1–4 Mar 2013 ITF Hyderabad, India 10,000 Hard Bárbara Luz 6–2, 3–6, 1–6
Win 2–4 Apr 2013 ITF Chennai, India 10,000 Clay Natasha Palha 6–3, 6–1
Loss 2–5 Apr 2013 ITF Lucknow, India 10,000 Grass Emi Mutaguchi 6–3, 6–7(2–7), 1–6
Loss 2–6 Jun 2013 ITF Qarshi, Uzbekistan 25,000 Hard Sabina Sharipova 3–6, 3–6
Win 3–6 Jun 2013 ITF New Delhi, India 10,000 Hard Eetee Maheta 6–3, 6–2
Win 4–6 Jul 2013 ITF New Delhi, India 10,000 Hard Kanika Vaidya 6–4, 6–4
Loss 4–7 May 2014 ITF Balikpapan, Indonesia 25,000 Clay Zhu Lin 5–7, 6–2, 3–6
Win 5–7 Dec 2014 Pune Championships, India 25,000 Hard Katy Dunne 6–2, 6–2
Loss 5–8 Apr 2015 ITF Ahmedabad, India 25,000 Hard Anastasija Sevastova 4–6, 6–7(5–7)
Loss 5–9 May 2017 Jin'an Open, China 60,000 Hard Zhu Lin 3–6, 6–3, 4–6
Win 6–9 Mar 2018 ITF Gwalior, India 25,000 Hard Amandine Hesse 6–2, 7–5
Win 7–9 Jul 2018 ITF Nonthaburi, Thailand 25,000 Hard Risa Ozaki 6–2, 6–3
Win 8–9 Jan 2019 ITF Singapore 25,000 Hard Arantxa Rus 6–3, 6–2
Loss 8–10 Apr 2019 Lale Cup, Turkey 60,000 Hard Vitalia Diatchenko 4–6, 0–6
Win 9–10 Dec 2019 ITF Solapur, India 25,000 Hard Naiktha Bains 6–3, 6–3
Win 10–10 Jan 2020 ITF Nonthaburi, Thailand 25,000 Hard Chloé Paquet 6–3, 7–5
Win 11–10 Feb 2020 ITF Jodhpur, India 25,000 Hard Berfu Cengiz 7–5, 6–1

Doubles: 31 (18 titles, 13 runner–ups)
Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$80,000 tournaments
$50,000/$60,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$15,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Finals by surface
Hard (14–8)
Clay (3–4)
Grass (1–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Jan 2011 ITF Kolkata, India 10,000 Clay Poojashree Venkatesha Nicole Clerico
Dalila Jakupovič		 3–6, 1–6
Loss 0–2 Apr 2011 ITF Lucknow, India 10,000 Grass Aishwarya Agrawal Anja Prislan
Kyra Shroff		 3–6, 3–6
Win 1–2 May 2011 ITF New Delhi, India 10,000 Hard Aishwarya Agrawal Fatma Al-Nabhani
Rushmi Chakravarthi		 6–4, 6–3
Win 2–2 May 2012 ITF New Delhi, India 10,000 Hard Rushmi Chakravarthi Liu Yuxuan
Zhao Qianqian		 6–1, 6–4
Win 3–2 May 2012 ITF New Delhi, India 10,000 Hard Rushmi Chakravarthi Sri Peddy Reddy
Prarthana Thombare		 6–3, 6–2
Win 4–2 Jun 2012 ITF New Delhi, India 10,000 Hard Aishwarya Agrawal Ester Masuri
Naomi Totka		 6–1, 6–4
Loss 4–3 Apr 2013 ITF Chennai, India 10,000 Clay Rushmi Chakravarthi Natasha Palha
Prarthana Thombare		 7–5, 3–6, [6–10]
Loss 4–4 Jul 2013 ITF New Delhi, India 10,000 Hard Shweta Rana Sharmada Balu
Sowjanya Bavisetti		 2–6, 4–6
Win 5–4 Jan 2014 ITF Aurangabad, India 10,000 Clay Prarthana Thombare Shweta Rana
Rishika Sunkara		 6–3, 6–3
Loss 5–5 May 2014 ITF Tianjin, China 25,000 Hard Fatma Al-Nabhani Liu Chang
Ran Tian		 1–6, 5–7
Win 6–5 Nov 2014 ITF Mumbai, India 25,000 Hard Lu Jiajing Nicha Lertpitaksinchai
Peangtarn Plipuech		 6–4, 1–6, [11–9]
Win 7–5 Dec 2014 ITF Lucknow, India 15,000 Grass Emily Webley-Smith Rushmi Chakravarthi
Nidhi Chilumula		 6–2, 6–4
Loss 7–6 Aug 2015 ITF Westende, Belgium 25,000 Hard Alyona Sotnikova Indy de Vroome
Lesley Kerkhove		 6–7(4–7), 4–6
Loss 7–7 Jun 2016 Fergana Challenger, Uzbekistan 25,000 Hard Prerna Bhambri Polina Monova
Yana Sizikova		 6–7(0–7), 2–6
Win 8–7 Sep 2016 Zhuhai Open, China 50,000 Hard Emily Webley-Smith Guo Hanyu
Jiang Xinyu		 6–4, 6–4
Win 9–7 Apr 2017 ITF Pula, Italy 25,000 Clay Eva Wacanno Irene Burillo Escorihuela
Yvonne Cavallé Reimers		 6–4, 6–4
Win 10–7 May 2017 ITF Hua Hin, Thailand 25,000 Hard Emily Webley-Smith Nudnida Luangnam
Zhang Yukun		 6–2, 6–0
Win 11–7 Aug 2017 ITF Koksijde, Belgium 25,000 Clay Bibiane Schoofs Marie Benoît
Magali Kempen		 3–6, 6–3, [11–9]
Loss 11–8 Aug 2017 ITF Leipzig, Germany 25,000 Clay Tereza Mrdeža Valentyna Ivakhnenko
Lidziya Marozava		 2–6, 1–6
Win 12–8 Aug 2017 Mençuna Cup, Turkey 60,000 Hard Gabriela Cé Elitsa Kostova
Yana Sizikova		 6–2, 6–3
Win 13–8 May 2018 Jin'an Open, China 60,000 Hard Harriet Dart Liu Fangzhou
Xun Fangying		 6–3, 6–3
Win 14–8 Nov 2018 ITF Pune, India 25,000 Hard Karman Thandi Aleksandrina Naydenova
Tamara Zidanšek		 6–2, 6–7(5–7), [11–9]
Loss 14–9 Jul 2019 Reinert Open, Germany 60,000 Clay Bibiane Schoofs Amina Anshba
Anastasia Dețiuc		 6–0, 3–6, [8–10]
Loss 14–10 Aug 2019 Pro-Series Foxhills,
United Kingdom		 25,000 Hard Naiktha Bains Sarah Beth Grey
Eden Silva		 2–6, 5–7
Loss 14–11 Oct 2019 Suzhou Open, China 100,000 Hard Rosalie van der Hoek Jiang Xinyu
Tang Qianhui		 6–3, 3–6, [5–10]
Loss 14–12 Nov 2019 Liuzhou Open, China 60,000 Hard Rosalie van der Hoek Jiang Xinyu
Tang Qianhui		 4–6, 4–6
Win 15–12 Dec 2019 ITF Solapur, India 25,000 Hard Ulrikke Eikeri Berfu Cengiz
Despina Papamichail		 5–7, 6–4, [10–3]
Win 16–12 Jan 2020 ITF Nonthaburi, Thailand 25,000 Hard Bibiane Schoofs Supapitch Kuearum
Mananchaya Sawangkaew		 6–4, 6–2
Win 17–12 Jan 2020 ITF Nonthaburi, Thailand 25,000 Hard Bibiane Schoofs Miyabi Inoue
Kang Jiaqi		 6–2, 3–6, [10–7]
Loss 17–13 Feb 2020 ITF Jodhpur, India 25,000 Hard Snehal Mane Rutuja Bhosale
Miyabi Inoue		 6–4, 4–6, [8–10]
Win 18–13 Dec 2020 Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge, U.A.E. 100,000 Hard Ekaterine Gorgodze Aliona Bolsova
Kaja Juvan		 6–4, 3–6, [10–6]

Fed Cup participation

Singles
Edition Stage Date Location Against Surface Opponent W/L Score
2014 Fed Cup
Asia/Oceania Zone Group II		 R/R 5 February 2014 Astana, Kazakhstan Pakistan Hard (i) Sara Mansoor W 6–1, 6–2
6 February 2014 New Zealand Marina Erakovic L 1–6, 2–6
P/O 7 February 2014 Hong Kong Zhang Ling L 3–6, 4–6
2015 Fed Cup
Asia/Oceania Zone Group II		 R/R 15 April 2015 Hyderabad, India Pakistan Hard Ushna Suhail W 6–0, 6–1
16 April 2015 Malaysia Jawairiah Noordin W 6–1, 3–6, 6–4
P/O 17 April 2015 Turkmenistan Anastasiya Prenko W 6–1, 6–2
2016 Fed Cup
Asia/Oceania Zone Group I		 R/R 3 February 2016 Hua Hin, Thailand Thailand Hard Luksika Kumkhum L 6–7(5–7), 3–6
4 February 2016 Japan Nao Hibino W 6–3, 6–1
5 February 2016 Uzbekistan Nigina Abduraimova W 6–1, 6–0
2017 Fed Cup
Asia/Oceania Zone Group I		 R/R 8 February 2017 Astana, Kazakhstan Japan Hard (i) Misaki Doi L 0–6, 3–6
9 February 2017 China Zhu Lin L 3–6, 6–3, 4–6
10 February 2017 Philippines Katharina Lehnert L 3–6, 4–6
2018 Fed Cup
Asia/Oceania Zone Group I		 R/R 7 February 2018 New Delhi, India China Hard Zhu Lin W 6–3, 6–2
8 February 2018 Kazakhstan Yulia Putintseva W 6–3, 1–6, 6–4
9 February 2018 Hong Kong Zhang Ling W 6–3, 6–2
P/O 10 February 2018 Chinese Taipei Hsu Chieh-yu W 6–4, 5–7, 6–1
2019 Fed Cup
Asia/Oceania Zone Group I		 R/R 7 February 2019 Astana, Kazakhstan Thailand Hard (i) Peangtarn Plipuech W 6–7(3–7), 6–2, 6–4
8 February 2019 Kazakhstan Yulia Putintseva L 1–6, 6–7(4–7)
P/O 9 February 2019 South Korea Jeong Su-nam W 6–3, 6–3

Doubles
Edition Stage Date Location Against Surface Partner Opponents W/L Score
2013 Fed Cup
Asia/Oceania Zone Group I		 R/R 6 February 2013 Astana, Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Hard (i) Rutuja Bhosale Sesil Karatantcheva
Galina Voskoboeva		 L 3–6, 1–6
8 February 2013 Thailand Rishika Sunkara Noppawan Lertcheewakarn
Varatchaya Wongteanchai		 L 1–6, 3–6
2014 Fed Cup
Asia/Oceania Zone Group II		 P/O 7 February 2014 Hong Kong Rishika Sunkara Ng Kwan-yau
Wu Ho-ching		 W 6–2, 6–1
2019 Fed Cup
Asia/Oceania Zone Group I		 R/R 7 February 2019 Astana, Kazakhstan Thailand Hard (i) Karman Thandi Nudnida Luangnam
Peangtarn Plipuech		 W 6–4, 6–7(6–8), 7–5
P/O 9 February 2019 Astana, Kazakhstan South Korea Hard (i) Prarthana Thombare Jang Su-jeong
Kim Na-ri		 L 4–6, 4–6

Asian Games

Singles (bronze medal)
Medal Date Tournament Location Opponent Score
Bronze August 2018 2018 Asian Games Jakarta, Indonesia Zhang Shuai 4–6, 6–7(6–8)

References
  1. "Ankita Raina". Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  2. Srinivasan, Kamesh (9 April 2018). "Ankita Raina in top-200". Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  3. "Ankita Raina becomes only third Indian woman tennis player to break into top 200 singles rankings". PTI. 10 April 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  4. "Ankita Raina". Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  5. Ankita, India's Reigning Tennis Star Is A Pandit Girl
  6. Ankita Raina - Bio
  7. Coach Kadhe puts Ankita Raina's progress in context
  8. Srinivasan, Kamesh ctitle=Ankita Raina in top-200 (9 April 2018). https://www.thehindu.com/sport/tennis/ankita-in-top-200/article23484503.ece. Retrieved 10 September 2018. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. "Ankita Raina settles for bronze at Asian Games". PTI. 23 August 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  10. Ankita Raina clinches first singles title of 2019
  11. "Felt uneasy", Ankita after qualification exit
  12. ITF Thailand: Ankita Raina in singles final, wins doubles title
  13. Ankita Raina wins ITF title in Jodhpur
  14. Sania Mirza, Ankita Raina guide India to maiden Fed Cup playoffs
  15. Ankita Raina Biography - Sportskeeda
  16. Ankita Raina Biography - Sportskeeda
  17. Ankita Raina Biography - Sportskeeda
  18. Coach Kadhe puts Ankita Raina's progress in context
  19. Swamy, Narain (2 September 2015). "Game Changers". Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  20. "When Narendra Modi ended Ankita Raina's travel worries". The Economic Times. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
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