The second set started in similar fashion with Kovinic dominating early on, but Ankita after a brief chat with her coach, seemed to find her rhythm and made it 5-4. However, the relentless Kovinic refused to let up and took the set and match
India No. 1 Ankita Raina blamed the lack of enough recovery time after her tough three-set win the previous day, for her 2-6, 5-7 defeat to Danka Kovinic of Montenegro in the L&T Mumbai Open WTA125K Series at Cricket Club of India, Churchgate yesterday. Ankita's defeat ended India's singles challenge, after Rutuja Bhosale and Pranjala Yadlapalli were beaten on Wednesday.
Ranked 197, Ankita, 25, came into the second round match yesterday after a gruelling three-setter against Rutuja, which lasted two hours and 17 minutes and got over close to mid-night on Wednesday. When asked if that late finish played a hand in her defeat, Ankita, who has won seven singles and 13 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit, replied: "Yes! I felt it today, that I was lacking recovery. I was down with dengue in September and this is just my third tournament. The match [against Rutuja] was my first three-setter since my return from illness. Usually, you can go to the quarter-finals playing three-setters in every match but today it affected me but I can't use it as an excuse."
Ankita, who reached the quarter-finals here last time, got off to a sluggish start, losing two consecutive games. Then, just when the 194- ranked Kovinic seemed to run away with the first set, Ankita showed some resistance, but it was not enough as the Montenegrin clinched the set with ease. The second set started in similar fashion with Kovinic dominating early on, but Ankita after a brief chat with her coach, seemed to find her rhythm and made it 5-4. However, the relentless Kovinic refused to let up and took the set and match.
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