The Indian tennis player Ankita Raina sustained with her Russian partner Kamilla Rakhimova to win the Phillip Island Trophy WTA tennis tournament in Melbourne on Friday. They were up against the Russian pair of Anna Blinkova and Anastasia Potapova and won the doubles finals with a brilliant 2-6, 6-4, 10-7 score.
Earlier, the Indo-Russian duo showcased an impressive 4-6, 6-4, 11-9 victory over Franceska Jons and Nadia Podoroska in the semifinals on Thursday.
With this win, the Indian player, whose previous rank was 115, has now stormed into the WTA Top 100 in doubles.
ANKITA RAINA WINS FIRST WTA TITLE AT WTA 250 PHILLIP ISLAND CUP@ankita_champ and Kamilla Rakhimova beat Blinkova/Potapova to lift the title
— Indian Tennis Daily (@IndTennisDaily) February 19, 2021
This win will push Ankita into the WTA Top 100(around #94) in doubles🇮🇳Raina/🇷🇺Rakhimova beat 🇷🇺 Blinkova/🇷🇺 Potapova 2-6 6-4 10-7 pic.twitter.com/tI3Sm2F51N
Last week, Raina had also recorded her first victory in the singles main draw of a WTA Tour event with a three-set win over Elisabetta Cocciaretto at the Phillip Island Trophy on Sunday.
Ankita Raina's message to Indian fans post her historic WTA title win pic.twitter.com/fB6xHKAsUa
— Indian Tennis Daily (@IndTennisDaily) February 19, 2021
She had also competed in the Yarra Valley Classic and Thailand Open on the WTA Tour but failed to go beyond the first round. The 28-year-old also became only the fifth Indian woman tennis player to secure a place in the main draw of a Grand Slam in the women's doubles event of the Australian Open on February 7. She was only the second Indian after Sania Mirza, a six-time Grand Slam champion, to compete in the women's doubles of a tennis major.