Shrivalli storms into main draw

Mumbai: Having just finished an intense training session at the CCI courts, Ankita Raina looked confused when asked about the return of the L&T Mumbai Open for the first time since 2018. The second edition of the WTA 125K Series event had taken place across the first week of November that year, except that India’s top-ranked female singles player just couldn’t recall it. Raina seemed convinced that the only edition of the tournament had been held in 2017 — the year when Aryna Sabalenka, now a two-time Australian Open champion, won the title. “I’m just wondering where was I during the second one,” she told TOI on Sunday. In reality, Raina was very much a part of that tournament, reaching the second round in the singles and suffering a first-round elimination in the doubles event. If anything, the brain fade perhaps offered some indication of how long India’s top women tennis professionals have had to wait to get an opportunity to compete in an event at this level on Indian soil. “Great opportunity for all of us,” said Raina, one of four Indian wild card entrants this week. “Events like these, the players competing here are the ones who were also at the Slams, so this is the level you want to play at. You get a reality check of where you stand and what you want to change or improve in your game.” Something Raina had no trouble remembering was how her run to the quarterfinals of the inaugural edition here paved the way for her to break through to the qualifying rounds of Grand Slams the following year. She would also win a singles bronze at the 2018 Asian Games. “That week (in Mumbai) gave me that confidence that I can be at that level. It’s not just the rankings but it helped so much mentally. So that is what these events do for us,” said the 225th-ranked Raina. Raina, 31, will begin her doubles campaign alongside Rutuja Bhosale on Monday. The Indian duo take on the Great British-Hungarian combination of Naiktha Bains and Fanny Stollar in the evening session on centre court. The singles field is led by American Kayla Day, the 2016 US Open girls singles champion and world No. 92, who will play Indian wild card Sahaja Yamalapalli in her opening round on Monday.