Ankita Raina, who has been in top form this season both in the Fed Cup and the professional circuit, broke into the top-200 of the world rankings and was at a career-best 197 as per the latest list released by the WTA on Monday.
The 25-year-old Ankita had reached her previous best rank of 212 in the previous list, bettering her record of 222 she had held in 2013. “I am very happy that finally I am into the top-200,” said Ankita when The Hindu contacted her in Osaka, Japan. “I have been waiting for quite some time to get here and have been patient with the ups and downs,” said Ankita.
“There were times when it had looked difficult but my coach always had faith in me. My family has been my strength in tough times,” said Ankita, who has been coached by Hemant Bendrey for the last 10 years.
Ankita travels at times with physio Rutuja Patange or trainer Gaurav Nijhon. Her mom also accompanies her some times, but she travels alone when competing abroad in order to stretch the sponsorship support from the Gujarat government to the last mile. “I had tears of joy. I am here by myself. So, I celebrated by crying all alone,” said Ankita.
Sania Mirza had rocketed to World No. 27 in 2007 while Nirupama Sanjeev (nee Vaidyanathan) had a career-best ranking of 134 in 1998.
