Ankita Raina gets past Rutuja Bhosale in a photo finish

Ankita Raina had no option but to pull out her best game to get past her training partner Rutuja Bhosale 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(5) in the first round of the $125,000 L&T Mumbai Open women’s tennis tournament on Wednesday.

It was the fifth win in seven meetings in the professional circuit for the 197th ranked over Rutuja, who is ranked a career-best 366 at the moment.

The 22-year-old Rutuja had beaten Ankita earlier this season, but at the crunch she could not get it right after a bright start.

In the pre-quarterfinals, Ankita will face Danka Kovnic of Montenegro who tamed fourth seed Olga Danilovic of Serbia after being on the brink of elimination.

Pranjala Yadlapalli who has been in terrific form of late, fought hard against fifth seed Luksika Kumkhum but the Thaiwriggled out of her clutches for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory.
Karman Kaur Thandi gave a good account of her big game, albeit late into the match, before top seed Zheng Saisai of China pulled through 6-2, 6-4.

In the doubles pre-quarterfinals, wildcard entrants Mahak Jain and Mihika Yadav found the third seeded Russians, Natela Dzalamidze and Veronika Kudermetova, too hot to handle.

Rutuja Bhosale stays in the doubles in partnership with Hiroko Kuwata of Japan. The duo will challenge the top seeds Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia and Irina Khromacheva of Russia in the quarterfinals.

The results:

Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Irina Khromacheva (Rus) bt Urszula Radwanska (Pol) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2; Valentini Grammatikopoulou (Gre) bt Deniz Khazanium (Isr) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4; Dalila Jakupovic (Slo) bt Sabina Sharipova (Uzb) 6-4, 6-2.

First round: Zheng Saisai (Chn) bt Karman Kaur Thandi 6-2, 6-4; Luksika Kumkhum (Tha) bt Pranjala Yadlapalli 3-6, 7-5, 6-1; Danka Kovinic (Mne) bt Olga Danilovic (Srb) 4-6, 7-5, 6-0; Ankita Raina bt Rutuja Bhosale 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(5); Margaria Gasparyan (Rus) bt Tereza Mrdeza (Cro) 6-3, 6-2.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Dalila Jakupovic (Slo) & Irina Khromacheva (Rus) bt Sofia Shapatava (Geo) & Emily Webley-Smith (GBR) 6-0, 6-2; Natela Dzalamidze & Veronika Kudermetova (Rus) bt Mahak Jain & Mihika Yadav 6-1, 6-1; Misaki Doi(Jpn) & Tereza Martincova (Cze) bt Valentini Grammatikopoulou (Gre) & Jia-Jing Lu (Cn) 6-2, 4-6, 10-4; Bibiane Schoofs (Ned) & Barbora Stefkova (Cze) bt Ekaterine Gorgodze (Geo) & Deniz Khazaniuk (Isr) 6-4, 7-6(2); Nao Hibino (Jpn) & Oksana Kalashnikova (Geo) bt Ksenia Palkina (Kgz) & Yana Sizikova (Rus) 6-1, 6-1.