Return to Mind Map Gallery

Ankita Raina

Ankita RainaPersonal lifeCareer Ankita Ravinderkrishan Raina (born 11 January 1993) is an Indian professional tennis player and the current Indian No. 1 in both women’s singles (since 2013) and doubles (since 2019).Raina has won one WTA 125k in doubles, along with 11 singles and 18 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. In April 2018, she entered the top 200 singles rankings for the first time, becoming only the fifth player representing India to achieve this feat. Raina has also won gold medals in the women's singles and mixed-doubles events at the 2016 South Asian Games, and won a bronze medal in singles at the 2018 Asian Games.Playing for India in Fed Cup, Raina has a win/loss record of 23–17. She has notable wins over Zhu Lin (CHN) and Yulia Putintseva (KAZ), both at the 2018 Fed Cup.Raina was born in the western Indian state of Gujarat to a Kashmiri Pandit family. Her middle-class Hindu family hails from the town of Tral in Pulwama district, Kashmir. Her family left Kashmir in the early 1990s during the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus, due to the ongoing insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. Raina is fluent in Hindi, Gujarati, and English. Raina briefly studied at Brihan Maharashtra.At the national events, Raina has represented her home state Gujarat. Her idols growing up were Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Sania Mirza.Raina trains at the Hemant Bendrey Tennis Academy at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana in Pune. Previously coached by Hemant Bendrey, she is now coached by Arjun Kadhe, who is also her trainer and hitting partner.Playing styleRaina is a steady baseliner who primarily relies on her speed and counterpunching abilities to outlast her opponents. She hits with plenty of topspin on both her forehand and backhand, and can hit in all directions comfortably. She also uses the backhand slice quite often, as a way of varying the pattern of a rally.