Billie Jean King Cup: Ankita Raina Shows Great Resillience Before Going Down To Jelena Ostapenko In Opening Singles

Billie Jean King Cup: Ankita Raina shook off a jittery start to put up a valiant fight against 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko before losing the tight opening singles.

Ankita Raina shook off a jittery start to put up a valiant fight against 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko before losing the tight opening singles as India trailed 0-1 in the World Group Play-offs of the Billie Jean King Cup in Jurmala, Latvia on Friday. Playing like she always plays this tournament, Ankita, ranked 174th, gave a mighty scare to world no 52 Ostapenko before losing 2-6, 7-5, 5-7 in two hours and 16 minutes. Producing high-quality tennis, both the players tested all aspects of each other's game and eventually Ostapenko's experience of playing high-stake games pulled her through. The onus to bring India back is now on 621st ranked Karman Kaur Thandi, who will take on wold no 47 Anastasija Sevastova in the second singles.