India’s Ankita wins her 1st WTA title with doubles crown at Phillip Island

The win will help Ankita, 28, enter the top 100 of the WTA rankings in doubles with the live rankings currently showing her in the 94th position. She won ITF doubles titles and WTA 125k series title before Friday's win.

Melbourne: India’s Ankita Raina and her Russian partner Kamilla Rakhimova on Friday won the Phillip Island Trophy WTA 250 tennis tournament in Melbourne. The pair beat Russia’s Anna Blinkova and Anastasia Potapova 2-6, 6-4, 10-7. This is Ankita’s first title on the WTA tour.

The win will help Ankita, 28, enter the top 100 of the WTA rankings in doubles with the live rankings currently showing her in the 94th position. She won ITF doubles titles and WTA 125k series title before Friday’s win.

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The Indo-Russian pair had earlier pulled off an impressive 4-6, 6-4, 11-9 over Franceska Jones and Nadia Podoroska in the doubles semi-finals. Ankita also won two matches in the singles event of the tournament to reach the Round of 32 where she lost to Australia’s Kimberly Birrell on Monday.

Earlier, Ankita had become the fifth Indian woman to play in the main draw of a Grand Slam when she made the cut for the women’s doubles event at the Australian Open with Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu. The pair lost their first round match 3-6, 0-6 to Australia’s Belinda Woolcock and Olivia Gadecki.