tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tou ...

WTA 125 tournaments WTA 125 tournaments are an international series of professional women's tennis tournaments organized by the Women's Tennis Association since 2012. In the past (2012–2015) sometimes called the WTA Challenger seriesITF Circuit. In April 2018, she entered the top 200 singles rankings for the first time, becoming only the fifth player representing India to achieve this feat. Raina has also won gold medals in the women's singles and mixed-doubles events at the

2016 South Asian Games The 2016 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games, is a major multi-sport event which took place from 5 February to 16 February 2016 in Guwahati and Shillong, India. A total of 2,672 athletes competed in 226 events over 22 spor ...

, and won a bronze medal in singles at the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 Augus ...

. Raina is one of only two women representing India who has won a WTA-level title. Playing for

India Fed Cup team The India Billie Jean King Cup team represents India in the WTA & ITF Billie Jean King Cup professional tennis competition and are governed by the All India Tennis Association. They will compete in the Asia/Oceania Zone of Group I in 2016. H ...

, Raina has a win–loss record of 26–21. She has notable wins over 2011 US Open champion

Samantha Stosur Samantha Jane Stosur ( ; born 30 March 1984) is an Australian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and held for 61 consecutive weeks. Also a former top ten s ...

, Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki and former world No. 5

Sara Errani Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. She is a former top five player in singles and former world No. 1 in doubles. With 9 singles titles and 27 doubles titles (including 5 Grand Slam doubles championship ...

.

Personal life

Raina was born in the Indian state of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

to Lalita Raina and Ravinder Kishen Raina. She was born and brought up in Ahmedabad before moving to

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, Maharashtra at the age of 14. Pune has a better infrastructure for raising young tennis talent, and the decision to move was based on a great performance at the Asians 14 and under masters tournament in Melbourne, where she placed second. Raina briefly studied at Brihan Maharashtra and is fluent in

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

, Kashmiri,

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. At the national events, Raina has represented her home state

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. Her idols growing up were

Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-e ...

,

Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked world No. 1 for 209 weeks, and has finish ...

,

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...

, and

Sania Mirza Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she has won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles i ...

. Raina trains at the Hemant Bendrey Tennis Academy at the

PYC Hindu Gymkhana PYC or pyc may refer to: * .pyc, filename extension for Python (programming language) * Shatin Pui Ying College, in Sha Tin, Hong Kong * A US Navy hull classification symbol: Patrol yacht, coastal (PYc) See also * Rus (disambiguation) (Cyrillic: ...

in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

.

Career

2018 Roland Garros Qualifying Tournament - 55 (cropped)

2008–16: Junior career

Raina started playing tennis at the age of five. From a young age she has been coached by Hemant Bendrey, who recognized her strong discipline and mentality. Following a promising junior career, Raina made her first professional appearance in 2009, at a small ITF tournament in Mumbai. In 2010, she continued to participate in local ITF events with limited success. Raina's 2011 season saw her advance to three ITF Circuit finals in doubles, winning one with countrywoman Aishwarya Agrawal. In 2012, she won her first professional singles title in New Delhi and won three more in doubles. This was followed by a few years of mediocre results on the

ITF Women's Circuit The ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, previously known as the ITF Women's Circuit, is a series of professional tennis tournaments run by the International Tennis Federation for female professional tennis players. History It serves as a developmental ...

.

2017–19: Breakthrough

Raina won two matches at the

Mumbai Open This was a former WTA 125K tennis tournament. The tournament was not held between 2013–16 due to various reasons, but in 2017 it was reinstated as a WTA 125K series tournament and relocated to Mumbai. The Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Assoc ...

, advancing to the quarterfinal. This would turn out to be her breakthrough tournament. In April 2018, she reached a ranking of world No. 181, after winning a $25k title, becoming the fifth Indian national to crack to the top-200 ladies singles rankings, following Nirupama Sanjeev,

Sania Mirza Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she has won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles i ...

,

Shikha Uberoi Shikha Devi Uberoi (born 5 April 1983) is an Indian-American former professional tennis player, who formerly represented India in international tournaments and a former Indian No. 1. After Nirupama Sanjeev. She is also the second Indian female ...

, and

Sunitha Rao Sunitha Rao (born October 27, 1985) is an American former professional tennis player, who represented India in international tournaments. She won eight doubles titles on the ITF Circuit in her career. On July 7, 2008, she reached her best singl ...

. In August 2018, Ankita won the bronze medal in the Asian Games at Jakarta, Indonesia in singles event. Raina and Sania Mirza are the only players representing India to have won a singles medal at the Asian Games. Later that year, she won the biggest doubles title of her career at the Taipei Challenger, partnering with compatriot

Karman Kaur Thandi Karman Kaur Thandi (born 16 June 1998) is an Indian professional tennis player. She has been a previous Indian No. 1 in singles. Thandi has career-high WTA rankings of 196 in singles, as of 20 August 2018, and No. 180 in doubles, as of 14 Janu ...

. Following a loss at the Australian Open, Raina won a $25k title in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, with a solid win over

Arantxa Rus Arantxa Rus (; born 13 December 1990) is a Dutch tennis player. In 2008, she won the girl's singles title at the Australian Open, defeating Jessica Moore from Australia in the final. With this win she went from 35th to second place on the junio ...

in the final. At the Kunming Open, she got her first top-100 win, defeating

Samantha Stosur Samantha Jane Stosur ( ; born 30 March 1984) is an Australian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and held for 61 consecutive weeks. Also a former top ten s ...

, former US Open champion and top-10 player, scoring the biggest win of her career. At the French Open, Raina lost her first qualifying match to well-known American youngster

Coco Gauff Cori Dionne "Coco" Gauff (born March 13, 2004) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in singles, reached on October 24, 2022, and world No. 1 in doubles, achieved on August 15, 2022. Gauff won h ...

in two tight sets, despite playing well. She went on to reach the second qualifying rounds of both the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...

and the US Open, losing tight three-setters in both tournaments. In October 2019, Raina entered the top 150 doubles rankings for the first time, after reaching the finals of the Suzhou Ladies Open with partner Rosalie van der Hoek. She is now coached by Arjun Kadhe, who is also her trainer and hitting partner.

2020–21: Grand Slam main-draw and Olympics debut

Raina had a disappointing result at the Australian Open, albeit she was unwell due to the

Australian bushfires Bushfires in Australia are a widespread and regular occurrence that have contributed significantly to shaping the nature of the continent over millions of years. Eastern Australia is one of the most fire-prone regions of the world, and its p ...

. However, Raina found further doubles success by winning two back-to-back ITF titles in

Nonthaburi Nonthaburi ( th, นนทบุรี, ) is the principal city of the district and province of the same name in Thailand. On 15 February 1936, Nonthaburi town municipality (''thesaban mueang'') was established, which only covered Suan Yai ...

alongside

Bibiane Schoofs Bibiane Schoofs (born 13 May 1988), previously known as Bibiane Weijers, is a Dutch professional tennis player. On 11 June 2012, she reached her career-high WTA singles ranking of 142, whilst her best doubles ranking was world No. 83 on 2 Apri ...

; followed by reaching her first

WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tou ...

semifinal at the Thailand Open alongside Rosalie. This gave Raina a new career-high ranking of No. 119 in doubles. She also won two singles titles early on in 2020, one in Nonthaburi, and the other in

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the ...

, India. Raina then helped India advance to the

Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was chan ...

World Group 2 playoffs for the first time in history in April 2020 in Dubai, along with

Sania Mirza Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she has won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles i ...

,

Rutuja Bhosale Rutuja Sampatrao Bhosale (born 27 March 1996) is an Indian tennis player. She made her debut for India Fed Cup team in 2012, the same year, she achieved her highest junior ranking of world No. 55. Bhosale, the former Indian number one in th ...

, Riya Bhatia and Sowjanya Bavisetti. In the Fed Cup, Raina had put up a good fight and won the first set 6–1 against China's top player Wang Qiang, but lost the match in three tight sets. Raina returned to competition at the resumption of the tour in September after a long hiatus due to the ongoing

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

pandemic; she suffered early exits in ITF tournaments she played in after the break. She then competed at the 2020 French Open qualifying where she advanced to the second round for the first time but lost to

Kurumi Nara is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, as well as six singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 18 August 2014, she reached a career-high singles ranking of worl ...

. In December, Raina won the biggest ITF doubles title of her career at

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, alongside

Ekaterine Gorgodze Ekaterine Gorgodze ( ka, ეკატერინე გორგოძე, tr, ; born 3 December 1991) is a Georgian professional tennis player. Gorgodze has won two doubles titles on the WTA Tour and also four doubles titles on the WTA Chal ...

, and reached a new career-high doubles ranking of 117. Raina competed in all the Grand Slam championships and the Olympics in 2021 but had first-round exits in all in doubles category. She competed mixed doubles only in Wimbledon but that too was a first-round exit. Raina began 2021 at the Australian Open, where she had her best performance at a major, losing in the third and final qualifying round to

Olga Danilović Olga Danilović ( sr-cyr, Олга Даниловић, ; born 23 January 2001) is a Serbian tennis player. In July 2018, Danilović won her first WTA Tour singles title in Moscow by beating Anastasia Potapova in the final. She also won two WTA ...

. She then became the fourth player representing India to feature in the main draw of a Grand Slam championship (after Nirupama Mankad, Nirupama Sanjeev, and Sania Mirza), playing doubles alongside

Mihaela Buzărnescu Mihaela Buzărnescu (born 4 May 1988) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 20, achieved on 6 August 2018. Her best doubles ranking of world No. 24, she reached on 22 October 2018. She has ...

, losing in the first round. Raina won the first

WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tou ...

singles main-draw match of her career at the Phillip Island Trophy. She came from a break down in the third set to reel off the last six games for a 5–7, 6–1, 6–2 win over

Elisabetta Cocciaretto Elisabetta Cocciaretto (born 25 January 2001) is an Italian professional tennis player. She has been ranked by the WTA as high as world No. 43 in singles, achieved on 22 May 2023, and No. 244 in doubles, which she attained on 10 August 2020. ...

. She then lost to Kimberly Birrell. In doubles, Raina partnered with

Kamilla Rakhimova Kamilla Stanislavovna Rakhimova ( rus, Камилла Станиславовна Рахимова, , kɐˈmʲiɫə rɐˈxʲiməvə; born 28 August 2001) is a Russian professional tennis player of Tatar descent. She has career-high WTA rankings ...

to advance to her first WTA level final, where they defeated the Russian pairing of

Anastasia Potapova Anastasia Sergeyevna Potapova (born 30 March 2001) is a Russian tennis player. Potapova has a career-high ranking of No. 44 achieved on 17 October 2022 and a doubles ranking of No. 44 achieved on 3 October 2022. Potapova is a former junior No ...

and

Anna Blinkova Anna Vladimirovna Blinkova ( rus, Анна Владимировна Блинкова, , ˈanːə blʲɪnˈkovə, Ru-Anna Blinkova.ogg; born 10 September 1998) is a Russian professional tennis player. She has won one singles and one doubles title ...

. With this victory, Ankita become the second Indian female after Sania Mirza to win a WTA title, and also the third Indian woman after Mirza and Shikha Uberoi to break into the top 100 of the WTA rankings, debuting at world No. 94 in doubles. Her improved ranking allowed her to compete more regularly on the WTA Tour, albeit with limited success. At the Abierto Zapopan, Raina scored a victory over former world No. 5 and French Open finalist,

Sara Errani Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. She is a former top five player in singles and former world No. 1 in doubles. With 9 singles titles and 27 doubles titles (including 5 Grand Slam doubles championship ...

, before losing to Leonie Küng. At the French Open, she lost in the second qualifying round in singles, and the first round of the main draw in doubles. Raina enjoyed a strong grass-court season in doubles, reaching back to back semifinals at the

Nottingham Open The Nottingham Open was originally known as the Nottingham Championships or Nottingham Lawn Tennis Tournament (1887-1967), is a tennis tournament for men and women held in Nottingham, United Kingdom, played on outdoor grass courts at the Nottingh ...

and Nottingham Trophy. At Wimbledon, she competed in all three events, losing in the first qualifying round of singles to

Varvara Lepchenko Varvara (Cyrillic: Варвара; el, Βαρβάρα, ''Varvára''), a variant of " Barbara", may refer to: Places *Varvara, Azerbaijan * Varvara, Prozor, on the Rama river, Bosnia and Herzegovina * Varvara, Burgas Province, Bulgaria * Varvara ...

and the first round of doubles and mixed doubles, partnering

Lauren Davis Lauren Davis (born October 9, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. Known for her aggressive backhand, speed, and clay-court strength, she won her first title on the WTA Tour at the Auckland Open and reached a career-high singles ra ...

and

Ramkumar Ramanathan Ramanathan Ramkumar (born 8 November 1994) is an Indian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as No. 111 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in July 2018, and in doubles at No. 58 ac ...

, respectively.

Sania Mirza Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she has won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles i ...

's protected ranking of No. 9 meant that Raina and Mirza gained direct entry into the Tokyo Olympics in women's doubles. They lost in three sets in the first round to the Kichenok sisters, in spite of leading 6–0, 5–2. Raina competed and the 2021 US Open, losing in the first round of single's qualifying to

Jamie Loeb Jamie Loeb (born March 8, 1995) is an American tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of 132 in singles, achieved in February 2018, and 120 in doubles, achieved in July 2018. Loeb has won nine singles and nine doubles titles on the ITF ...

and the first round of doubles. This meant she had played in the main draw of doubles at all four grandslams. She then won only one of her next seven matches in singles, to end the year outside the top 200. She also lost 7 out of her 8 doubles matches during this stretch. For her achievements at the Asian Games and

South Asian Games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic ...

, Raina was conferred the Arjuna Award in 2021.

2022

Raina's poor form from the end of 2021 carried into 2022, with her losing in the first qualifying round of the Australian open, and then at and ITF Tournament in Kazakhstan. The losses caused her to drop out of the top 350 and return to playing on the ITF tour. Her form improved in the second half of the season, and she won 18 of her last 27 matches to end the year in the top 270. Her lone final of the season came in August, at the ITF tournament at

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

, losing to Chinese Taipei player Joanna Garland. However, she was much more successful in doubles, reaching nine ITF finals, winning five of them.

Playing style

Raina is a steady baseliner who primarily relies on her speed and counterpunching abilities to outlast her opponents. Raina's preferred surfaces are grass and hard court, as they are more suited to her game style; with clay being her weakest surface.

Sponsorship and equipment

In her junior years, Raina was helped by

Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals Dishman Carbogen Amcis Ltd. (Dishman Carbogen Amcis Limited) is a multinational company specialized in the manufacture of active ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry. Dishman employs over 1,000 people worldwide and delivered annual net ...

to participate in overseas junior tournaments. Since then, she has been supported by Bharat Forge and Lakshya. Most recently, Raina has signed sponsorship deals with the Sports Authority of Gujarat and

Yonex () is a Japanese sports equipment manufacturing company. Yonex produces equipment and apparel for tennis, badminton, golf, and running. Its range of products manufactured and commercialised includes equipment for badminton and tennis (rackets, ...

, and she is officially employed with ONGC. Hence, Raina uses

Yonex () is a Japanese sports equipment manufacturing company. Yonex produces equipment and apparel for tennis, badminton, golf, and running. Its range of products manufactured and commercialised includes equipment for badminton and tennis (rackets, ...

racquets and clothing.

Adani Group Adani Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Ahmedabad. It was founded by Gautam Adani in 1988 as a commodity trading business, with the flagship company Adani Enterprises. The Group's diverse businesses include po ...

is her current supporter. In 2013, Raina met

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...

, India's then-future prime minister, and officially was recognised under the Shaktidhoot scheme and hence became a part of India's goal of reaching Olympic podiums.

Performance timelines

Singles

''Current after the 2023 Dubai.''

Doubles

WTA career finals

Doubles: 1 (title)

WTA Challenger finals

Doubles: 1 (title)

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 22 (11 titles, 11 runner–ups)

Doubles: 41 (24 titles, 17 runner–ups)

Fed Cup participation

Singles

Doubles

Asian Games

Singles (bronze medal)

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raina, Ankita 1993 births Living people Indian female tennis players Sportspeople from Ahmedabad Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic tennis players of India Tennis players at the 2014 Asian Games Kashmiri people Kashmiri Pandits Sportswomen from Gujarat 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Racket sportspeople from Gujarat Tennis players at the 2018 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for India Asian Games medalists in tennis South Asian Games gold medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in tennis Recipients of the Arjuna Award