New Delhi [India], January 18 : India's top tennis player Ankita Raina won her first doubles title in nine months, triumphing in the final of the ITF W50 event with British partner Naiktha Bains, edging past American fourth seeds Jessie Aney and Jessica Failla in the summit clash on Saturday.
Ankita had made a first-round exit in the singles but made up for the disappointment by bagging the doubles title with Naikhta, winning 6-4 3-6 10-8 in one hour and 42 minutes at the DLTA Complex, a release from ITF W50 stated.
Before today's title victory, Ankita last won a doubles trophy at the Kashiwa event in Japan in April 2024 when she partnered with Taipei's Chia Yi Tsao, a release said.
Meanwhile, seventh seed Tatiana Prozorova and second seed Panna Udvardy set up the singles final against each other earlier during the day. Tatiana knocked out Latvian top seed Darja Semenistaja 7-5 6-2 after Hungary's Panna Udvardy comfortably beat British fourth seed Yuriko Lilly Miyazaki 6-3 6-2 in the first semifinal of the day.
In the doubles final, the unseeded Indo-British pair broke their rivals at love in the very first game, with Naikhta closing the game with a forehand winner. In a dominating start to the match, Ankita and Naikhta logged nine straight points while the Americans struggled to contain unforced errors.
A half-volley pick-up error put the Americans down by another break point and Naikhta cashed in on the chance with a fierce service return winner to open up a comfortable 3-0 lead. A backhand slice error followed by a double fault put Naikhta down by three break chances in the next game, which they dropped to allow the fourth seeds an opening.
However, the unseeded team immediately got the break back with Naikhta closing the game with an overhead smash for a 4-1 lead. It was now Ankita's turn to drop her serve as she hit a forehand long at 30-all and then her backhand return sailed over the baseline on the break chance.
The break sequence continued with both teams struggling to hold until the Americans held their own in the ninth, reducing the gap to 4-5. Ankita came out serving for the opening set and succeeded in taking the lead in the final.
In the second set, Ankita blinked first to give the Americans an early advantage and Naikhta too faced breakpoints in game four but they managed to keep the scores level at 2-2.
Ankita's serve was broken again in the sixth game as Jessica and Jessie grabbed a comfortable 4-2 lead. The Americans closed the set easily but Ankita and Naikhta trumped them in the 10-point Super Tie break.
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