Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale storm into singles semi-finals

India’s Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale displayed immense tenacity while etching three-set wins to reach the singles semi-finals of the ITF Women’s Open at the KSLTA Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday.
Raina, the fourth seed in the tournament, fought past Dea Herdzelas of Bosnia and Herzegovina 6-1, 6-7 (7), 7-5, while Bhosale overcame eighth-seeded Briton Eden Silva 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4. Raina will face Bhosale in an all-Indian semi-final on Saturday.
Earlier, top seed Brenda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic also entered the semi-finals with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Indonesia’s sixth-seeded Madelyne Nugroho. The No. 5 seed Dalila Jakupovic also registered an easy 6-2, 6-0 win against Ikumi Yamazaki in the other quarter-final. “The first set was going pretty easy and fast, and in the second, I was leading 5-3, but I didn’t really take my chances. Then at 5-5, I broke her serve and held my serve to win the match. I am happy that it was not a three-set match because physically I was not 100 percent — probably because of the matches and the heat as well. I am happy that I have eased through,” said Fruhvirtova after her win.
Later in the day, Bhosale and her Swedish partner Jacqueline Awad went down to the No. 1 seeded Portuguese pair of Jorge Fransica and Jorge Matilde 6-2, 3-6, 8-10 in the doubles semi-final. Fransica-Matilde will face the Greco-British pair of Valentini Grammatikopoulou and Eden Silva in the final on Saturday.