Ankita Raina fights her way past Ekaterina Maklakova 

Bhopal

Ankita Raina fought her way past Ekaterina Maklakova of Russia 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 in the first round of the $40,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Arera Club in Bhopal on Wednesday.

In the pre-quarterfinals, Ankita will challenge second seed Joanne Zuger of Switzerland, who beat Ekaterina Yashina in straight sets.

Karman Kaur Thandi defeated Daria Kudashova of Russia 6-3, 6-3 and will face fifth seed Anastasia Tikhonova of Russia in the second round.

The only other Indian to progress to the pre-quarterfinals earlier on the opening day, Rutuja Bhosale, will face sixth seed Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.

The results:

Singles, first round: Nigina Abduraimova (Uzb) bt Emily Welker (Ger) 6-1, 6-0; Ekaterina Reyngold (Rus) bt Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-4, 6-2; Karman Kaur Thandi bt Daria Kudashova (Rus) 6-3, 6-3; Anastasia Tikhonova (Rus) bt Sharmada Balu 6-2, 6-0; Irina Khromacheva (Rus) bt Sravya Shivani 6-1, 6-2; Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) bt Funa Kozaki (Jpn) 6-0, 6-4; Valeriya Savinykh (Rus) bt Zeel Desai 6-0, 6-2; Zhibek Kulambayeva (Kaz) bt Ziva Falkner (Slo) 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4; Mana Kawamura (Jpn) bt Saki Imamura (Jpn) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; Gozal Ainitdinova (Kaz) bt Carole Monnet (Fra) 6-2, 6-4; Dalila Jakupovic (Slo) bt En Shuo Liang (Tpe) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3; Ksenia Zaytseva (Rus) bt Diana Marcinkevica (Lat) 6-1, 7-6(6); Ankita Raina bt Ekaterina Maklakova (Rus) 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4; Joanne Zuger (Sui) bt Ekaterina Yashina (Rus) 6-4, 6-2.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Dalila Jakupovic (Slo) & Rosalie van der Hoek (Ned) bt Ekaterina Maklakova & Ksenia Zaytseva (Rus) 6-4, 6-1.