Ankita Raina returns a shot during her first round match at the ITF W35 Kalaburagi Women’s Tennis Tournament at the Chandrashekhar Patil Stadium in Kalaburagi on March 4, 2026. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
India’s Ankita Raina and Zeel Desai advanced to the second round of the ITF W35 Kalaburagi with convincing first-round wins, while Karnataka’s Soha Sadiq briefly impressed before bowing out at the Chandrashekhar Patil Stadium on March 4.
Eighth seed Raina produced a composed performance to beat fellow Indian Sonal Patil 6-1, 6-3. Patil held serve in the opening game but Raina quickly took control and won six straight games to wrap up the first set in dominant fashion.
The second set followed a similar pattern as Raina raced to a 3-0 lead. Patil showed resilience by holding serve twice to stay in contention and later reduced the deficit to 5-3 after Raina looked to have sealed the match at 5-2. However, the experienced Raina held her nerve in the next game to seal the victory and advance to the second round.
Fifth seed Desai also advanced after a solid performance against fellow Indian Jennifer Luikham. Desai took the opening set 6-2 with steady baseline play and continued to dictate the exchange in the second set. Combining fine drop shots with powerful groundstrokes, she maintained control and eventually closed out the match 6-4 to book her place in the next round.
Local favorite Sadiq had earlier thrilled the home crowd with a strong start against Singapore’s Eva Marie Desvignes, who raced to a 4-0 lead in the opening set. However, Desvignes mounted an impressive comeback to take the set 7-5 before taking the second set 6-0 to end the young Karnataka player’s campaign.
Another Indian was disappointed as fourth seed Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty withdrew from her match against Evgeniya Burdina due to a health condition.
Top seed Jasmijn Gimbrere advanced comfortably with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Aishwarya Jadhav, while sixth seed Thasaporn Naklo beat Valeria Savinykh 6-3, 6-2. In other matches, Polina Kuharenko defeated Akanksha Dileep Nitture 6-2, 6-1, Anna Sedyasheva defeated Sandeepthi Singh Rao 6-2, 6-4 and Elina Nepliy defeated Kashish Bhatia 6-0, 6-4.
In the doubles draw, India’s Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi teamed up with Japan’s Michika Ozeki to record a convincing 6-2, 6-3 win over Maayan Laron and Maria Mikhailova to enter the quarter-finals. Third seeds Desai and Nepliy advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Sedyasheva and Sofia Suslova.
With Raina and Desai joining Vaishnavi Adkar in the second round, the competition at the ITF W35 Kalaburagi is expected to intensify in the coming rounds.
Published – 05 March 2026 09:09 IST
