By Anupam Soni NOTHING comes easy in sports. One must be mentally prepared to grind it out in the middle, adapt to the conditions and take losses in the stride if one wants to break into the professional tennis circuit, feels Ankita Raina, who has been India’s number one female player in singles and doubles for over a decade. After Ankita won her first national singles title in 2013, she not only ruled the courts in India for a long time but was a force to reckon with in ITF tournaments winning 11 singles and 30 doubles titles. She represented India at the Tokyo Olympics and won a bronze medal at the Asian Games in 2018. She has pocketed double golds in the South Asian Games in 2016 with singles and mixed doubles crowns. To her credit, she also boasts of a doubles title each at WTA Tour and WTA Challenger events. The 33-year-old is still playing singles at competitive level and recorded a straight-sets victory in first round of the MSLTA-NDHTA ITF15K Women’s World Tennis Tour at the NDHTA Ramnagar courts on Wednesday. Now a senior pro at the circuit, Ankita’s advice to the players who want to make it big is simple. “There is much awareness these days and everybody is working hard.

 

But one must be mentally prepared to grind it out. It is a lonely sport and one needs to be able to take losses in the stride. Every day is a new day ... you are playing a different player each match. One must be mentally prepared, no matter who one is playing against and what the conditions are. One needs to be able to adjust and manage,” said Ankita while talking to The Hitavada after her opening round win. On how to cope up with the losses, Ankita says, “Family and team (support staff ) matters a lot. It is very very important that those who are close provide you with a good and positive atmosphere. Apart from that, there are different ways of unwinding for different people. Some take painting or some other sport to get mentally relaxed. It is very important to know how to turn oneself off. These things make you feel fresh again.” Ankita is of the view that hosting ITF events at smaller places (like Nagpur) are good for development of tennis. “It is very good that ITF events are being organised in cities like Nagpur. Youngsters who watch top Indian and foreign players in action get inspired. There is a feeling in these players that we will also play like this.

 

Another aspect is that players get to play international tournaments in their environment and at a much low cost. While playing in India, they can have the liberty of travelling with their coach. But the more important thing is that there should be consistency in hosting these types of events. It should be on a regular basis,” said Ankita who is on her maiden visit to the city. Sponsors play an important role in providing some financial stability to players. “The burden of financial stress in always there on players’ mind. Only top 100 players in the world even out (financially) and rest are always spending from their own pockets. Sports Authority of Gujarat helped me a lot since 2013. It was turning point in my life. I met PM (Narendra) Modiji, who was the then Gujarat CM with my plea for financial help for international travel and he came up with Shaktidoot Yojna that helped other sportspersons also. Thanks to them, I have been able to compete multiple times at the Grand Slam events. Apart from government agencies, I think corporates must also come forward to help tennis (like in cricket),” concluded Ankita.