Indian tennis player Ankita Raina on Sunday won her first singles title of the 2019 season and eighth overall after trampling top seed Arantxa Rus in straight sets in the final of the USD 25,000 event in Singapore. AdvertisingAnkita toppled four seeded players in the tournament starting with Dutch eighth seed Lesley Kerkhove in the second round. The gritty 25-year-old followed that up with wins over second seed Uzbek Sabina Sharipova and third seed Conny Perrin from Switzerland. The 50 points earned from the title triumph are likely to catapult Ankita to a career-high singles rank of 168 when the new WTA list is issued on Monday. The Asian Games bronze medallist said the changes made to the circuit have made even the USD 25k tournaments much tougher.

Source: Indian Express January 20, 2019 09:56 UTC