Ankita seeded second for ITF event in Gurugram

It will be another spell of fine chance for the Indian players to bolster their world rank and make progress when the Federal Bank $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament starts at the Tennis Project, Baliawas, on Tuesday.

Ankita Raina has been seeded second behind Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia, and Sahaja Yamalapalli is the only other Indian player to get a seeding, at No.5.

Sahaja and Shrivalli Bhamidipaty had put Indian women’s tennis in a better perspective with a superb performance in the recent WTA event in Mumbai, against top-100 players. They would be hungry to capitalise on the events at home, as there will be tournaments in Nagpur and Indore over the subsequent fortnight.

Ankita will have the first round against wild card Akanksha Nitture, while Sahaja will be up against Japanese Ayumi Koshishi. Shrivalli will play a qualifer.

Sowjanya Bavisetti, Vaishnavi Adkar and Sonal Patil will be eyeing a berth in the main draw when they play their third and final round of qualifying event on Tuesday.

Zeel Desai and Vaidehi Chaudhari face each other in the first round. Riya Bhatia will also be keen to show her game at home.

With a bunch of strong foreign players present in the field, it should be a lively event.