Ankita Raina will begin her campaign in the women’s singles qualifying at the French Open on Tuesday against 10th seed Evgeniya Rodina.
The Russian is ranked 116th in the world and has a better record against the Indian, having beaten her the one time they played together in the past. Raina, India’s top-ranked women’s singles player, had gone down 2-6, 0-6 to Rodina back in 2016 at the at the $25,000 ITF event Chiasso, Switzerland. Incidentally, that meeting was also on clay.
However, at a career-best ranking of 181, Raina is confident heading into her first match at a Grand Slam event. India has not had a female player in the singles main draw of a Grand Slam since Sania Mirza played at the Australian Open in 2012.
“I have always had a lot of dreams and goals for my tennis with most of them coming true but I think playing my first Grand Slam will always be special. After all these years of patience and hard work, it feels like it’s paying off. But it’s just another week of tournament for me because it’s going to be the same ball, the same tennis court so that’s how I think,” she said.
Raina has also played on clay during her recent run in China, so adjusting to the surface won’t be much of a problem. “I’ve been competing with top 200 players for a while now. So, here I will be facing most of them. After a certain level, tennis becomes very mental and it’s all about how strong and patient you are in your head. The belief and confidence helps you to pull out those crucial or tight matches,” the 25-year-old added.
With inputs from PTI