Second seed Ankita Raina had a fortuitous entry into the quarterfinals as her opponent Sofia Costoulas of Belgium retired midway through the second set in the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Tennis Project, Baliawas, on Thursday.
On a day of persistent rain and long delays, with matches starting in the morning and finishing under floodlights, Ankita was in trouble as she had lost the first set 2-6. She recovered to be 3-2 in the second set when the 17-year-old world No. 3, Costoulas quit, with a calf muscle injury.
Like last week’s champion Karman Kaur Thandi, who wilted under the scorching sun against Sahaja Yamalapalli, Costoulas was also unable to be at her physical best, especially in the high humidity.
For the best performers of last tournament at the same venue, it was perhaps hard to find the freshness of mind to tackle the new challenge and hungry opponents trying to make the best of the opportunity.
In the quarterfinals, Ankita will play Punnin Kovapitukted, the Thai left-hander who thrives with her quick feet and stout heart.
Rutuja Bhosale stopped wild card entrant Vineetha Mummade in straight sets and will play third seed Viktoria Morvayova of Slovakia in the quarterfinals.
Four other singles matches were interrupted by rain. Referee Puneet Gupta had no option but to postpone the matches for Friday.
The results: Pre-quarterfinals: Rutuja Bhosale bt Vineetha Mummadi 6-3, 6-4; Viktoria Morvayova (Svk) bt Ikumi Yamazaki (Jpn) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; Punnin Kovapitukted bt Shreya Tatavarthy 6-1, 6-1; Ankita Raina bt Sofia Costoulas (Bel) 2-6, 3-2 (retired).
