Indian ladies’s tennis group is all set to depart for Latvia. (Photo Credit: IANS)
Four members of the Indian group left for Latvia’s capital for Billie Jean Cup whereas Sania Mirza and Ankita Raina will be a part of the group in Riga from Dubai.
- IANS (*17*)New Delhi
- Last Updated:April 09, 2021, 17:40 IST
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Four members of the Indian ladies’s tennis group — Rutuja Bhosle, Zeel Desai and Karman Kaur Thandi, together with reserve Riya Bhatia — will go away for Latvia’s capital Riga on Friday for the Billie Jean King Cup on April 16-17. The Indian group captain, Vishal Uppal tweeted, “Exciting times for Women’s Tennis in India. Look forward to uniting with the whole team in Latvia!” The All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Friday posted footage of the group on social media with the gamers and the coach posing sporting face masks. India’s tennis ace Sania Mirza, who was lately included within the Sports Ministry’s Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) for 4 years, and Ankita Raina will be a part of the group from Dubai the place the 2 have been coaching for the final one week.
This is the primary time in historical past that the Indian ladies’s tennis group has made it to the World Group Play-offs of the Billie Jean King Cup — previously often called the Fed Cup — and they’ve a tricky problem on hand provided that Latvia have some high gamers of their ranks.
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India made it to the World Group Play-offs for the primary time by advantage of ending second within the Asia/Oceania Group I tie, which befell within the Emirates in March 2020, whereas Latvia had been crushed by the United States of their group.
India are unlikely to have a simple outing as Latvia shall be fielding a robust group that has the likes of former French Open champion and present world No. 54 Jelena Ostapenko, moreover 2018 US Open semi-finalist Anastasija Sevastova, who was ranked world No. 11 at her peak. Latvia had given the Serena Williams-led United States group a tricky time within the 2020 Qualifiers earlier than shedding 2-3.
India’s hopes of successful the tie will relaxation on Raina, who has earned the popularity of a giant-killer through the years, whereas Sania’s expertise will come in useful for the younger group.
The tie shall be performed on the National Tennis Centre, Lielupe, Jurmala.
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