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Indian tennis' upcoming star Ankita Raina has a wonderful opportunity of entering the main draw of the 2018 French Open at Roland Garros as she was included in the list of qualifiers which was released recently by the WTA.
This will be her first appearance at any stage of a Grand Slam tournament, which is a 'dream come true' for her. Speaking to Sportskeeda, Ankita said, "I think words don’t do justice to feelings. My dream has come true, it’s been my dream since I was little. I always used to watch the Grand Slams on the TV and Serena (Williams) playing and used to ask when will I play there."
When asked how she will be preparing for the challenge in Roland Garros, the 25-year-old said, "I will not get much time, maybe 7-8 days which I have kept for movement techniques on clay. However, I have already started strengthening those muscles which I will need more on clay."
Ankita's entry into the qualifying draw comes on the back of her consistent performances on the ITF and WTA circuit in recent months. Her resurgence began when she made her way into the Mumbai Open quarterfinals last year in November. Then, during the Fed Cup Asia-Oceania Group 1, she remained undefeated throughout the week as she defeated top-the likes Lin Zhu of China and Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, both top-100 players.
However, things were not always so bright and the Ahmedabad-born player revealed how thankful she was to her family for supporting her throughout, no matter what. She said, "I’m so thankful to my family for their support and faith in me even in bad times as well, they have sacrificed much more than I have.
"Also, to my team who I work with, especially my coach Hemant (Bendrey) sir, he believed in me when no one did and kept working with me. The Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG) also helped me a lot, supporting me throughout. Without the financial backing, travelling 25-30 weeks in a year would have been out of the question."
"And especially, I'm thankful to that man who brought this change in my career at the most crucial point of time, our current Prime Minister who was then the Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Narendra Modi sir," she added.
