Billie Jean King Tennis Cup: Ankita Raina's two wins help India beat Thailand

Experienced Ankita Raina notched up a breakthrough in the second singles to win the deciding doubles tie with Rutuja Bhosale as India beat Thailand 2-1 in their Asia-Oceania Group A tie on the opening day of the Billie Jean King Tennis Cup in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Tuesday.

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India's top female tennis player Ankita Raina helped her country win the tie after Rutuja Bhosale lost the opening rubber of the Billie Jean King Tennis Cup. The hope was on Ankita to bring India back into the contest and she did not disappoint. She won the singles match which was almost three hours long. She also played a crucial role in the doubles match. While Rutuja Bhosale, who is ranked 400 in the WTA singles rankings and was playing on a hard outdoor surface, rose first in the tie. She went down 6-2, 6-1 to world No. 332 Luksika Kumkhum in one hour and four minutes.

Meanwhile, in the second match of the tie, Raina defeated world No. 315 Peangtarn Plipuech of Thailand. However, despite losing the first set in a close decision, Raina made a brilliant comeback. She win the match 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 in two hours and 51 minutes. The Indian pair of Rutuja Bhosale and Ankita Raina, however, were pushed straight on the backfoot by Luksika Kumkhum and Peangtarn Plipuech. Raina and Bhosale lost their first serve of the match and finally, the set despite their best efforts.

After that, the Indian pair broke three breaks in the second set over Kumkhum and Plipuech. They won the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours and 11 minutes in the third set. On Wednesday, the Indian women's tennis team will face the hosts Uzbekistan. They will be without their top-ranked player Nigina Abduraimova (singles-186). In her absence, Sevil Yuldasheva (singles-991) will lead Uzbekistan's challenge. Uzbekistan came into the tie having lost to heavyweights China 3-0 on Tuesday.

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The Billie Jean King Tennis Cup, formerly the Fed Cup, is a world team championship for women's tennis. In the 2020-21 season of the Billie Jean King Tennis Cup, India qualified for their maiden World Group playoffs but lost to Group I Latvia by 3-1.