India No 1 Ankita Raina notched up one of the biggest wins of her career as she stunned Sara Errani in the first round of qualifying at the WTA 250 tournament in Guadalajara in Mexico.
The world No 168 fought from a set down to beat the Italian second seed and world No 106 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 6 minutes.
She will next play Leonie Kung in an attempt to qualify for the main draw in Mexico, at the Abierto Zapopan.
ANKITA RAINA STUNS FMR WORLD NO. 5 SARA ERRANI
— Indian Tennis Daily (@IndTennisDaily) March 6, 2021
The Indian No.1 scored one of the biggest wins of Indian Tennis as she upset Sara Errani 26 64 63 in the qualie of WTA 250 Guadalajara in Mexico
Sara Errani had reached R3 at the Australian Open (incl. 61 60 win over V Williams!) pic.twitter.com/qR0TqEIoXy
The 33-year-old Errani, a former top five player, has been in good touch, reaching the third round of the Australian Open last month.
She took the first set but Raina fought back in a match marked with constant breaks of serve. The Italian won eight of 13 breakpoints while Raina had one more break, winning nine of the 19 she got.
The performance in Guadalajara continues what has been a superb year for the 18-year-old India, who made her Grand Slam debut in doubles at the Australian Open and then won her first WTA 250 doubles trophy at Phillip Island which saw her break into the top 100 in doubles.
