Tennis Round-up | Ankita Raina enters second round of Wimbledon qualifiers, P Gunneswaran ousted

Raina, India’s top-ranked WTA player, defeated Buyukakcay 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the Wimbledon qualifiers to set up a clash with former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki. However, Raina would be familiar with Lisicki’s challenge after the Indian had beaten the German on grass at the ITF Surbiton Trophy in London earlier this month.

Raina has been in good form, which was seen in the match as the 26-year-old converted a break point in the third game to win the first set 6-4. The second set saw the Indian going up 2-0 after an early break and she could have gone 3-0 up but failed to convert three break points. However, she won it in straight sets in the end.

In Antalya Open, Turkey, Gunneswaran was ousted by World No 75 Lorenzo Sonego 7-6 (3), 0-6, 5-7 in the second round. The Italian ace had beaten Joao Sousa in the first round in the previous round and continued his form to beat the Indian world No 94.

However, the grass-court ATP 250 tournament saw India’s Leander Paes winning the opening men’s doubles match against 2018 doubles finalists Sander Arends and Matwe Middelkoop 6-3, 6-4 along with his French partner Benoit Paire.

In the ATP grass-court tournament in Eastbourne, India’s Rohan Bopanna and partner Pablo Cuevas also opened with a win as they overcame the challenge of Marco Cecchinato and Dusan Lajovic 6-2, 7-5, to set up a clash with Argentinian second seeds Horacio Zeballos and Maximo Gonzalez next.