Ankita Raina was the lone Indian to progress to the second round of the QNet Open $50,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex here on Tuesday as she recorded a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over Fatma Al Nabhani.
Ankita joins Rishika Sunkara and Prerna Bhambri in the last 16. However, Natasha Palha, Prarthana Thombare, Bhuvana Kalva and lucky loser Vaniya Dangwal (replacement for fifth seed Susanne Celik) lost their first encounters in straight sets.
Bhuvana came the closest to winning a set but let a 3-0 lead in the second set tie-break slip and lost 3-6, 6-7(5) to second seed Anastasiya Vasylyeva.
Ankita, though, was never in danger as she completely dominated her opponent. Fatma had lost to the 21-year-old Indian in a tough three-setter at this year’s Asian Games but failed to muster a challenge this time. The Omani made too many errors from her backhand and remained inconsistent throughout.
Ankita adapted better to the variable pace of the court, something Fatma failed to do at all. Even when she was put under pressure by her opponent, the unseeded Indian could rely on her redoubtable defensive capabilities. Ankita plays third seed Marina Melnikova on Wednesday.
The results: Singles: First round: Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (Aut) bt Emily Webley-Smith (Gbr) 6-2, 6-3; Barbara Haas (Aut) bt Sofiya Kovalets (Ukr) 0-6, 7-6(6), 7-5; Marina Melnikova (Rus) bt Xi-Yao Wang (Chn) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Ankita Raina bt Fatma Al Nabhani 6-2, 6-2; Maria Sakkari (Gre) bt Natasha Palha 6-1, 6-3; Elise Mertens (Bel) bt Kamonwan Buayam (Tha) 6-0, 6-1; Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (Tha) bt Vaniya Dangwal 6-2, 6-1; Tara Moore (Gbr) bt Ching-Wen Hsu (Tpe) 6-3, 6-3; Ivana Jorovic (Srb) bt Tadeja Majeric (Slo) 7-5, 6-0; Sabina Sharipova (Uzb) bt Prarthana Thombare 6-2, 6-1; Anastasiya Vasylyeva (Ukr) bt Bhuvana Kalva 6-3, 7-6(5).
