Ankita Ravinderkrishan Raina (born 11 January 1993)[2] is an Indian professional tennis player. Since 2018, she has regularly been the Indian number one in both singles and doubles.
Raina has won one title on the WTA Tour and one WTA 125 tournament (both in doubles), along with 11 singles and 25 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. In April 2018, she entered the top 200 in the singles rankings for the first time, becoming only the fifth player representing India to achieve this feat.[3][4] Raina has also won gold medals in the women's singles and mixed-doubles events at the 2016 South Asian Games, and a bronze medal in singles at the 2018 Asian Games. Raina is one of only two women representing India who have won a WTA Tour-level title.
Raina was born in the Indian state of Gujarat to Kashmiri Pandit parents Lalita Raina[9] and Ravinder Kishen Raina. She was born and brought up in Ahmedabad before moving to Pune, Maharashtra at the age of 14 as Pune had a better infrastructure and opportunities to develop professional tennis players; the decision was made based on her performance at the Asians 14 and under masters tournament in Melbourne, where she placed second.[10] Raina briefly studied at Brihan Maharashtra and is fluent in Hindi, Kashmiri, Gujarati, and English.[citation needed]
Raina playing in the qualifying at the 2018 French Open – her first Grand Slam tournament
2008–16: Junior career
Raina started playing tennis at the age of five. From a young age she has been coached by Hemant Bendrey, who recognized her strong discipline and mentality.[11] 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 Women's Circuit.[citation needed]
2017–19: Breakthrough
Raina won two matches at the Mumbai Open, advancing to the quarterfinal. 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.[12]
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.[13] Later that year, she won the biggest doubles title of her career at the Taipei Challenger, partnering with compatriot Karman Kaur Thandi.[14]
Following a loss at the Australian Open, Raina won a $25k title in Singapore, with a solid win over Arantxa Rus in the final.[15] At the Kunming Open, she 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 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 Wimbledon Championships and the US Open, losing tight three-setters in both tournaments. In October 2019, Raina entered the top 150 doubles rankings for the first time, after reaching the finals of the Suzhou Ladies Open with partner Rosalie van der Hoek. She is now coached by Arjun Kadhe, who is also her trainer and hitting partner.[16][17]
2020–21: Grand Slam main-draw and Olympics debut
Raina had a disappointing result at the Australian Open, albeit she was unwell due to the Australian bushfires.[18] However, Raina found further doubles success by winning two back-to-back ITF titles in Nonthaburi alongside Bibiane Schoofs;[19] followed by reaching her first WTA Tour semifinal at the Thailand Open alongside Rosalie. This gave Raina a new career-high ranking of No. 119 in doubles. She also won two singles titles early on in 2020, one in Nonthaburi, and the other in Jodhpur, India.[20] 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.[21] 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.[citation needed]
Raina returned to competition at the resumption of the tour in September after a long hiatus due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; she suffered early exits in ITF tournaments she played in after the break. She then competed at the 2020 French Open qualifying where she advanced to the second round for the first time but lost to Kurumi Nara.[22] In December, Raina won the biggest ITF doubles title of her career at Dubai, alongside Ekaterine Gorgodze, and reached a new career-high doubles ranking of 117.[citation needed]
Raina competed in all the Grand Slam championships and the Olympics in 2021 but had first-round exits in all in doubles category. She competed mixed doubles only in Wimbledon but that too was a first-round exit. Raina began 2021 at the Australian Open, where she had her best performance at a major, losing in the third and final qualifying round to Olga Danilović. She then became the fourth player representing India to feature in the main draw of a Grand Slam championship (after Nirupama Mankad, Nirupama Sanjeev, and Sania Mirza), playing doubles alongside Mihaela Buzărnescu, losing in the first round.[23]
Raina won the first WTA Tour singles main-draw match of her career at the Phillip Island Trophy. She came from a break down in the third set to reel off the last six games for a 5–7, 6–1, 6–2 win over Elisabetta Cocciaretto.[24] She then lost to Kimberly Birrell. In doubles, Raina partnered with Kamilla Rakhimova to advance to her first WTA Tour level final, where they defeated the Russian pairing of Anastasia Potapova and Anna Blinkova.[25] With this victory, Ankita became the second Indian female after Sania Mirza to win a WTA title, and also the third Indian woman after Mirza and Shikha Uberoi to break into the top 100 of the WTA rankings, debuting at world No. 94 in doubles.[citation needed]
Her improved ranking allowed her to compete more regularly on the WTA Tour, albeit with limited success. At the Abierto Zapopan, Raina scored a victory over former world No. 5 and French Open finalist, Sara Errani,[26] before losing to Leonie Küng. At the French Open, she lost in the second qualifying round in singles, and the first round of the main draw in doubles. Raina enjoyed a strong grass-court season in doubles, reaching back to back semifinals at the Nottingham Open and Nottingham Trophy. At Wimbledon, she competed in all three events, losing in the first qualifying round of singles to Varvara Lepchenko and the first round of doubles and mixed doubles, partnering Lauren Davis and Ramkumar Ramanathan, respectively.[citation needed]
Sania Mirza's protected ranking of No. 9 meant that Raina and Mirza gained direct entry into the Tokyo Olympics in women's doubles. They lost in three sets in the first round to the Kichenok sisters, in spite of leading 6–0, 5–2.[citation needed]
Raina competed at the 2021 US Open, losing in the first round of singles qualifying to Jamie Loeb and the first round of doubles. This meant she had played in the main draw of doubles at all four major tournaments. She then won only one of her next seven matches in singles, to end the year outside the top 200. She also lost seven out of her eight doubles matches during this stretch.
Raina's poor form from the end of 2021 carried into 2022, with her losing in the first qualifying round of the Australian open, and then, at and ITF tournament in Kazakhstan. As a result. she dropped out of the top 350 and returned to playing on the ITF Circuit. Her form improved in the second half of the season, and she won 18 of her last 27 matches to end the year. Her lone final of the season came in August, at a ITF event at Aldershot, losing to Chinese Taipei player Joanna Garland.
However, she was much more successful in doubles, reaching nine ITF Circuit finals, winning five of them.
Raina reached the semifinals of a $40k tournament in India in January, and the final of the tournament in Bangalore in March. She reached her second ITF final of the season in at the Jakarta $25k tournament, but lost again. These results propelled her close to the top 200, and she returned to a Grand Slam qualifying at the French Open, where she lost in the second round. She also competed in the first qualifying round at Wimbledon but lost again. Raina qualified for the main draw of the WTA 250 Poland Open, but lost to Jodie Burrage in a tight three-setter. She entered the WTA Prague Open the following week as lucky loser, and scored her first WTA Tour main-draw win of the season over former world No. 16, Barbora Strýcová.
At the 2023 US Open, Raina reached the final round of qualifying, but lost in straight sets to Mirjam Björklund. This was the second time Raina reached the final round of qualifying.[27]
Raina is a steady baseliner who primarily relies on her speed and counterpunching abilities to outlast her opponents.[28] Her preferred surfaces are grass and hard court, as they are more suited to her game style.[29]
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.[30] Hence, Raina uses Yonex racquets and clothing.[citation needed]Adani Group is her current supporter.[citation needed]
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.[31]
Performance timelines
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
P#
DNQ
A
Z#
PO
G
S
B
NMS
NTI
P
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
↑ The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.
1 2 3 4 During the season, she did not play in the main-draw of any WTA Tour-level tournaments. However, she played at the Billie Jean King Cup, which is not counted as a played tournament but as matches counted.
↑ 2010: WTA ranking–804, 2011: WTA ranking–616, 2012: WTA ranking–314, 2013: WTA ranking–314.
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