Ankita Raina, on Sunday, made the cut for the women’s doubles event of the upcoming Australian Open. With this, she became only the fifth Indian woman to secure a place in the main draw of a Grand Slam.
The Australian Open starts in Melbourne on Monday.
After missing out on the women’s singles main draw, Raina still had a chance to qualify as a ‘lucky loser’ till the completion of the first round. However, the 28-year-old earned a direct entry after signing up with Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnecu in the doubles event.
Raina is only the second Indian after Sania Mirza, a six-time Grand Slam champion, to compete in the women’s doubles of a tennis major.
Raina, who played a key role in Indian Fed Cup team’s tremendous progress, said that although singles hold a different significance, making the doubles draw too is special. “Regardless of the fact that it is doubles, I will take it. I kept at it. I stayed in the process. Maybe next time, I will play singles too. After years of hard work, it is starting with doubles, but singles will happen [too]. It’s a first, so it’s special,” Ankita told PTI.
“People start believing. We touch many small milestones but this one is at a pinnacle. Anyone who starts playing professional tennis, dreams of playing in a Grand Slam,” she added.
Raina and Buzarnecu will open their campaign against the Australian wild card pair of Olivia Gadecki and Belinda Woolcock.
“A friend told me that Mihaela is looking for a partner. I spoke to her and she agreed. I have not played with her before but I have played with a lefty on the tour. It make a good combination. I am looking forward to it.”
With Raina’s entry, a total of four Indians will now be competing in the season’s first Grand Slam. Sumit Nagal will compete in the men’s singles, while Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan will present their challenge in the men’s doubles with their respective partners.
Nagal has drawn Lithiania’s Ricardas Berankis as his first-round opponent. Bopanna and his Japanese partner Ben McLachlan will take on Korean wild card entrants Ji Sung Nam and Min-Kyu Song. Sharan and his Slovakian partner Igor Zelenay will take on German combo of Yannick Hanfmann and Kevin Krawietz.