Indian tennis celebrated an important milestone this month when the women’s team reached their first-ever Fed Cup playoffs after finishing...
Indian tennis celebrated an important milestone this month when the women’s team reached their first-ever Fed Cup playoffs after finishing second in the regional Asia/Oceania Group I qualifiers.
In the women’s equivalent of the Davis Cup, India reeled four consecutive wins against Uzbekistan, Chinese Taipei, South Korea and Indonesia to qualify. The combined team effort saw long-time training partners Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale pull their weight in singles while veteran Sania Mirza teamed up with Raina to finish unbeaten across three crucial deciders.
“This was important for our sport. It was a very memorable week, it took me a while to digest that we made history,” India No 1 Raina told Scroll.in.
Bhosale says Raina didn’t actually believe they had done it and kept double-checking. “We ran down to them and Ankita was in shock for a few minutes, I had tears in my eyes, someone was smiling widely. It was great to see everyone’s reactions,” Bhosale recalled. “Winning was the only one thing on my mind, so that’s why there was no reaction. I was very calm and then I saw everyone came on court,” Raina defended her reaction with a laughed.
India’s best previous Fed Cup performance was a runner-up finish in Asia/Oceania Zone Group I back...
