Ankita Raina, Prarthana Thombare in ITF women's tennis second round

Ankita Raina

Pune, December 23 (IANS)

Ankita Raina and Prarthana Thombare entered the second round of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) women's $25,000 tennis tournament at the Deccan Gymkhana here on Tuesday.

Raina beat compatriot Rutuja Bhosale 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (6), while Prarthana Thombare defeated Katarzyna Kawa of Poland 6-2, 6-1.

But the highlight of the day was the valiant fight of Mihika Yadav, who went down fighting 5-7,5-7 against Ukraine's Veronika Kepshay.

In other action, top seed Anastasiya Vasylyeva of Ukraine thrashed wildcard Indian Sharmadaa Baluu 6-1, 6-0 and the third seed Sofia Shapatova of Georgia defeated Natela Dzalamidze of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Qualifier Cristina Ene of Romania caused the major upset of the day when she beat the second seed Cindy Burder of the Netherlands in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.

Results:

First Round: Q-Cristina Ene (Rou) bt Cindy Burger (Ned) 6-4, 6-3

Veronika Kepshay (Ukr) bt Mihika Yadav (Ind) 7-5, 7-5

Anastasiya Vasylyeva (Ukr) bt WC-Sharmadaa Baluu (Ind) 6-1, 6-0

Nina Stojanovic (Srb) bt Natela Dzalamidze (Rus) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

Sofia Shapatava (Geo) bt Silvia Njiric (Cro) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4

Ankita Raina (Ind) bt Rutuja Bhosale (Ind) 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6)

Margarita Lazareva (Rus) bt Alyona Sotnikova (Ukr) 6-4, 6-4

Prarthana Thombare (Ind) bt Katarzyna Kawa (Pol) 6-2, 6-1.